F 129 
'%' ■C83 K9 




IPRICE, 25 OEOSTTS. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 



--^im ►—.-«- 



A HISTORICAL 

—AND — 

DESCRIPTIVE SKETCH 

— OF — . 



CORTLAND, N. Y., 

— AND ITS — 

MANUPACTURINg AND gOMMERKAL INTERESTS 
■bir —BY— iL^iiS^^ 

D, MORRIS KURTZ. 



«<« ►— -H »)» 

^HOWINQ IT? ATTRACTIOJ^J? y\g /< PLy\CE Of F(E?IDENCE AND 

ADVA;^T/QE? a? y\ LOC/TION FOF( /VIAjMUF/kC- 

TUF^IjMQ ENTEF(PRI?E?, 

<«« ►-•— < 'mi>^ ■ 

1883. 
KEPUBLICAN BOOK AND JOB PRINT, 

1C6 Watbb Street, Binghamton. 



■a- 



PREFACE. 



While the object iu writing Past and Present has been, primarily, to show the 
rise, progress, and woiiderfullatter growth of the beautiful village of Cortlaud,its attrac- 
tions as a place of residence and the advantages it offers as a location for manufac- 
turing enterprises, I have also endeavored to present such historical data as would 
form a brief, but complete and connected history. Few can apiireciate the diffi- 
culties of this part of my task ; much of its history is lost ; the connecting links 
are broken ; a few years earlier the work could have been done more satisfactorily ; 
a few years later it would be attended with still more difficulty ; such as I have been 
enabled to glean, however, is presented with the belief that it is substantially 
coiTCct, and has been verified wherever possible. Necessarily condensed, it is also 
somewhat fragmentary, and much of the matter rightfully belonging in Part I, will 
be found in the sketches in Parts.II and III. But if to the older inhabitants Past 
AND Present recalls incidents that have ahnost passed from their memory and 
leads them to supply the missing links, so rapidly being forgotten ; or if the illus- 
trations of the success uniformly attending the establishment of manufacturing 
enterprises in Gortland, and the description of its beauties, attracts the attention of 
other enterprises in search of a suitable location for mechanical industries, of the 
capitalist seeking a profitable investment, or of the man of leisure desiring a charm- 
ing home in a delightful locality, with the most beautiful surroundings, this work 
will not have been done in vain, and it will have served its purjxjse. 

D. M. K. 

Cortland, N. Y., August, 1883. 



y 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the j'ear 1883, by 

D. MORRIS KURTZ, 

in tiie Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C. 



PART I. 




CORTLAND. 



ITS RISE AND PROGRESS-THE PAST AND THE 

PRESENT. 

i]YING on a broad and level plain, in the picturesque valley of the 
Tioughuioga, at the confluence of the east and west branches of the 
Tioughnioga river, surrounded by high hills through which debouch five 
rich valleys leading North, South, East, and West, the pretty village of 
Cortland is a worthy rival of the most beautiful town that adorns the 
great Empire State. 

Covering an area of two square miles, laid out in irregular squares, with wide and 
even streets, uniformly shaded by rows of maple, elm or pine trees, and lined with 
pretty cottages, elegant mansions or handsome business structures, Cortland, 
especially in the summer time, presents a most attractive appearance. Main street, 
the principal business thoroughfare, commencing at the foot of the South hills, and 
running due north for nearly a mile and a half, then diagonally northwest untU it 
meets Adams street and forms the Homer road, contains many neat residences, and 
is lined, with the exception of that portion devoted exclusively to business, with 
beautiful maples. But even that portion is not entirely devoid of foliage, for right 
in its heart, set not more than ten feet apart, is that row of noble maples fronting 
the old brick mansion of the Randalls, and its acre or more of gravelled walks wind- 
ing through beds of beautiful flowers, rare shrubbery and stately old trees, separated 
from the public walk only by a low, time-stained waU of stone, with old fashioned 
high arched gates of iron. Aad both north and south of this "oasis," are many 
structures of brick and iron which in architectural appearance and proportions 
would do credit to much larger cities, and are occupied by enterprising merchants. 
Then one block east, and running parallel, is Church street, with its extraordinary 
width, that is not sufficient even, to prevent the majestic trees, full grown many a 



6 PAST AND PRESENT. 

year ago, from casting their shadows clear across ; and here are the churches, the old 
and the new side by side, the more costly and elegant Congregational edifice, erected 
in 1882, along side the old fashioned cobble-stone church of the Universalists, 
erected in 1837 ; the old frame church of the Presbyterians, built in 1828, between 
the modern and expensive structures, with their heavenward-towering spires, of the 
Baptists and the Methodists ; and here, to o, near the site of the old Cortlandville 
Academy, is the tasteful monument erected in 1876 to the memory of Cortland's 
fallen braves, and which stands like a sentinel on guard in front the attractive 
grounds of the Normal School, extending east to Greenbush street, and laid out in 
tortuous paths, with well kept lawns, neatly trimmed shrubbery and growing trees 
adding largely to the appearance of the pleasing school buildings. Still further east 
extends new streets to the banks of the Tioughnioga, where is heard the hum of 
machinery in busy manufactories, and are springing up pretty little cottages, while 
in the southeast is Blodgett's unique park, with its trout ponds, and myriads of 
■ 'speckled beauties, " fountains, romantic lover's retreat, and wonderful maze and all 
the other delights and surprises the genius of this self-taught landscape gardener has 
furnished. And on the west side of Main street looms up Monroe Heights, on 
which are built some fine residences, and which in time will doubtless be terraced 
and form a most delightful spot ; starting at the corner of Main and Port Watson 
streets, and running diagonally southwest, Tompkins street, with its handsome 
dwellings, beautiful lawns and abundance of shade-giving trees, forms a favorite 
place of residence, while a rippling brook winds its way around the Heights and 
meandering through the meadows mingles its limpid waters with the Tioughnioga, 
which, entering on the north, skirts the base of Benham's hill and being joined by 
the East branch goes murmuring along the Eastern borders of the village to help 
sweU the current of the Chenango, Which in turn lends its assistance to the Siisque- 
hauna and thus journeys to the sea. And when the surrounding hills are covered 
with aU their wealth of foliage and the trees throughout the village are full in their 
leaf, no panegyric, however glowing, could more than do it justice. 

The village does not present the rural aspect one would naturally expect, how- 
ever, the horse cars traversing Main street, the smoke curUng upwards from, its 
numerous factories and the hum of their machinery dispelling such an illusion ; 
and in the evening, when the streets are lighted by gas and thronged with 
promenaders it is, indeed, a busy, bustling little city. 

Cortland is sitxiated in the western part of Cortland county, of which it is the 
capital, on the lines of the Syracuse, Binghamton and New York, Utica, Ithaca and 
Elmira, and Cazenovia, Canastota and DeRuyter Railroads, and is forty-three miles 
south of Syracuse, forty-three miles north of Binghamton, seventy miles northeast 
of Elmira and eighty-two miles southwest of Utica, and has a population of about 
6,000 inhabitants. 

The early history of the village is rather vague and meagre. Prof. Charles W. 
Sanders, of New York, the weU-known author of ' 'Sanders Series of Spellers and 
Readers, " who was bom here, very kindly furnished the following as his recollec- 
tions of its earlier days : ' 'The beautiful, enterprising and flourishing village of 
Cortland, situated about midway between Binghamton and Syracuse, began to be 
settled in the early part of this century. It was formerly a part of the town of 
Homer which was ten miles square, divided in the centre. Homer and Cortland 
being only about two miles apart, a spirit of rivalry sprang up between them, which 
resulted in their separation April 11, 1829. Among the earliest settlers were four 
brothers — Solomon, John, Jona than and James Hubbard, Samuel Crittenden, Eber 
Stone, John Morse, Moses Hopkins and Mr. Watson. As so many valleys centered 



PAST AND PEESENT. 7 

around Court House Hill, they predicted that near the base of that hill was the place 
to locate a village site, and some of them climbed the trees on that hill in order to 
ascertain the most probable, convenient, and eligible spot. Mr. Hopkins selected 
the west side of the hill, and located west of Otter creek. Mr. Morse purchased the 
land east of South Main street, now owned by Randoli)h Eandall, and Mr. Watson 
settled at Port Watson, from whom the place takes its name. Solomon Hubbard,for 
whom the writer worked two summers, owned all the land both sides of Tompkins 
street, from the house formerly owned by Roswell Randall to Otter creek, embrac- 
ing the cemetery grounds, and those on which such elegant palaces now adorn the 
village. Besides these he owned nearly all the land one mile south of Tompkins 
street, between Owego and Main streets, embracing lands now owned by Randolph 
Randall as far east as Pendleton street. Jonathan Hubbard, father of Jonathan 
Hubbard now hviug in this village, in 1798 purchased all the land lying between 
Main and Greenbush streets, and from Port Watson street north as far as the river. 
He also purchased a few acres below, near that river, on which he erected a mill in 
1804 [1802-3 ?]* One of his children was born in that mill. He also built the first 
frame house in the village on the northeast corner of Main and Court streets, whi,ch 
was demolished over fifty years ago, the boys making a bonfire of the rubbish. He 
was the wealthiest man in town. He died in 1814. At that early period the forests 
were plentifully stocked with wild deer, and the rivers with fish. The deers were 
so "unacquainted with man, " that they were easily taken and furnished food for 
the early settlers ; but bears and wolves made sad havoc among the young cattle, 
sheep, and swine that run at large in the woods. Among the first merchants of 
Cortland were two brothers, William and Roswell Randall, who commenced business 
in 1810, [1812 ?], and Mr. Asahel Lyman, who commenced a little earlier. These 
merchants kept such articles as were in demand in a newly settled country, and were 
obliged to transport their goods by teams from Albany over the Cherry Valley 
turnpike, and thence to Cortland. Mr. Lyman, after carrying on business several 
years, erected the 'Old Brick Store, ' now standing opposite the Cortland House. It 
was built in 1817, of brick manufactured about two miles from the village by Truman 
Doud. Messrs. William and Roswell Randall established business on the corner of 
Main and Port Watson streets, opjDosite the Messenger House. In exchange for 
their goods these merchants were obliged to accept such commodities as the country 
produced. Among these, ashes were a staple article, which they converted into 
potash or pearlash for New York market. Two smoking, seething, hissing distilleries 
were kept in constant operation, converting the grain into whiskey, which, except 
what was consumed here, was transported down the Tioughnioga river in arks built at 
Port Watson, thence down the Susquehanna to Harrisburg, and other large places. 
The Court House and jail were located on Court House hill (Monroe Heights.) 
John Keep was the first Judge of the county, and at that time owned the house now 
occupied as the County Poor House. The jail was seldom destitute of tenants, not 
so much by those who had contravened the laws of the country, as by those who 
were so unfortunate as to be unable to pay their debts. The jail limits extended 
one mile from the jail, and the debtor was not allowed by law to go beyond that 
except on Sundays, when he had a right to visit his family and friends, but must re- 
turn before sunrise Monday morning. The principal lawyers in the village at that 
time were Oliver Wiswell, Henry Stevens, Nathan Dayton, and Samuel Nelson. The 
latter, for many years, was Judge of the Supreme Court of the United States. He 
died at Cooperstown in 1872. There were three hotels, or taverns, as 
they were then called, one kept by Danforth Merrick, on the site 

*See sketch, "The Cortland Mills," Part II. 



8 PAST AND PEESENT. 

of the Cortland House, one on the northwest corner of Main and Court 
streets, kept by Joshua Ballard, and one on the site of the Messen- 
ger House kept by Nathan Luce. The three physicians of the place were Drs. 
Budlong, Boies, and Goodyear. The first religious society in Cortland was formed 
in 1801, and soon alter they erected a house of worship opposite the turn of the road 
leading to Homer. The society was called ' The Baptist Church of Christ in 
Homer.' Rev. Alfred Bennet was its honored pastor for many years, and in 1824 it 
numberpd nearly 700 members. It was then divided into three socities, constituting 
the Baptist Church in Homer, the Baptist Church in Cortland, and the Baptist 
Church in McGrawville. The next religious society organized in Cortland was that 
of the Methodist. They erected the first house of worship (?) in the village in 1820. 
Eev. George W. Densmore being the pastor at that time. That house has been re- 
moved, and a commodious and elegant brick edifice now occupies the original 
site. Soon after the Presbyterian society erected their present house of worship, 
which continues in good repair to this day. The village now contains seven elegant 
church edifices, that are well filled evei'y Sabbath with intelligent congregations. 
One of the chief causes of the prosperity of Cortland must be attributed to the lively 
interest the people have always manifested in the cause of popular education. Beside 
its excellent public schools, the Old Academy, though receiving no revenue from the 
State, was, for many years, a successful rival of Cortland (Homer) Academy, and 
now the Normal School is not surpassed by any for its excellent system of instruc- 
tion, and its efficient and competent corps of instructors." 

******* 

Unfortunately, there are no available means of fully tracing the early history or 
verifying the facts and dates given, but such others as I have been enabled to glean are 
presented with the belief that they are substantially correct. The township of Cort- 
landville is not wholly embraced in this sketch, however, but only that portion — 
lots 64, 65, 66, 74, 75 and 76 on the county map — originally comprising the village 
of Cortland. 

The pioneer settlers of the village were Jonathan Hubbard and Colonel Moses 
Hopkins, who came in 1794, and located, Hubbard on land now in the heart of the 
village, and Hopkins on lot 04. It was a wild but jiicturesque country, forming a 
part of Homer township, Onondaga county, which had just been organized that year 
from Herkimer county, and had not as yet attracted any settlers. Homer had been 
settled in 1791, when Herkimer county was formed from Montgomery, by Amos 
Todd and Joseph Beebe, * 'the first of the noble pioneers who planted the standard of 
civilization in the Tioughnioga Valley. Previous to 1791, the territory now com- 
prised within the county of Cortland was known to the whites only by charts and 
maps, and though forming a constituent portion of the State of New York, was re- 
garded, on account of its location, of but minor importance." * 

And these hardy settlers lived not a life of pleasure, excei^t that which comes 
from industry and contentment, for their homes were simply rude houses built of 
logs and poles. They were followed in 1795 by Thomas Wilcox, who also located 
on lot 64, and Reuben Doud, James Scott, John Morse and Levi Lee, these four 
settling on lot 75. About this time, too. Dr. Lewis S. Owen, who is said to have 
built the first frame house in Cortland county, came from Albany and settled on lot 
66, but afterward removed to Homer. Enoch Hotchkiss, Samuel Crittenden and 
Eber Stone came about 1796-7, the first named locating on lot 75, and the two latter 
on 66. In 1798 additional settlers were found in Samuel Ingles and his son, Samuel 
Ingles, Jr., who also located on lot 75, and then there does not appear to have been 

•Goodwin's "Pioneer History." 



iPAST AND PRESENT. 9 

another until about; 1802, when William Mallery located near Court House Hill 
(Monroe Heights; and John A. Freer, father of Anthony and S. D. Freer (the latter 
still a hale and hearty man of business), settled on lot 74. The building of a grist 
mill in lS02-:5,*by Jonathan Hubbard, must have added considerably to the impor- 
tance of this settlement, yet I do not find trace of another settler until I^hoo, when 
Nathan Blodgett came from Massachusetts and located on lots (5") and (56, and then 
again there appears to be a blank until John Ingles and Edmund Mallery settled on 
lot 74 in 1808. The names of Gilbert Budd, Jeremiah Chase, John McFarlan, John 
M'Nish, Archibald Turner, John Stillmau, Elisha Crosby and Lemuel lugles, appear 
about this time, however, but when they came and whether they settled here during 
the earlier years or not, I am unable to say, but Lemuel Ingles seems to have en 
gaged in mercantile pursuit^ and to have been the first tradesman in the village. 

The southern portion of Onondaga county was being settled quite rapidly, and as 
the distance these settlers were compelled to travel in their attendance upon court, 
in Syracuse, was from fifty to sixty miles, over almost impassable roads, and re- 
quiring the loss of considerable time, a petition was presented for the division and 
erection of a new county by the name of "Courtlandt," which was granted by an act 
passed April 8, 1808. "Cortland county was named in honor of General Peter Van- 
Cortlandt, a gentleman who was extensively engaged in the purchase and sale of 
land. It is bounded on the north by Onondaga county ; east by Madison and Che- 
nango ; south by Broome and Tioga ; and west by Tompkins and Cayuga. Its area 
is a fraction over r>()0 square miles, and contains about 320,000 acres, forming a por- 
tion of the high ' central section of the State.' Its northern boundary lies on the 
dividing ridge which separates the waters flowing into Lake Ontario and the tribu- 
taries of the Susquehanna River. The surface of this county is much divei'sified, 
and may be appropriately divided into rich valleys and fertile hills. The territorj' 
comprised within the boundaries of Cortland county is composed of four whole and 
two half townships of the Military Tract, or lands granted by the State of New York 
to the soldiers of the Revolution." 

The act of April 8, 1808, authorizing the erection of Courtland county, provided 
that the courts "should be held at the school house on lot 45, in the town of Homer." 
This was merely a temporary arrangement, however, to continue only until a site 
was selected and a court house erected. The little towns of Homer, Cortland, Port 
Watson and McGrawville ' 'were equally interested in securing the location of the 
public buildings, and the good citizens were, apparently, equally certain of success.'' 
The locating commissioners, Joseph L. Richardson, of Auburn, Nathan Smith, of 
Hex'kimer, and Nathaniel Locke, of Chenango, after examining the various sites, de- 
cided upon "a commanding eminence west of Cortland village," which caused much 
bitter feeling, the people of Homer and Port Watson becoming very much excited 
upon learning of the decision — so unfavorable to their own peculiar interests. And 
to William Mallery the credit is given for securing the pubhc buildings to Cortland, 
the location of which here has proven so beneficial. The court house and jail — a 
pine and hemlock structure — were erected in 1810, on the brow of the hill which 
was afterwards known as Court House Hill, but has since been christened Monroe 
Heights. John Keep was appointed Cortland county's first judge on the 3d day of 
April, 1810, and during that year His Honor opened court in the new "seat of jus- 
tice," and it is not at all unlikely that the witnesses and jurors congregated in the 
evening at Samuel Ingles' tavern, which had been built on the site subseciueutlyoccupied 
by the Barnard block (now Sager & Jennings and Dexter House), and at Lemuel Ingles' 
store, to talk over the events of the day. 

•See sketch, ''The Cortland Mills," Part II. 



10 PAST AND PEESENT. 

A school house — the first — stood on the present site of the Messenger House, and 
in 1811 the first church was erected by the Baptists, (who had organized in 1801,) in 
' 'the present limits of CortlandviUe, about one-half mile north of the old court 
house." Already were the beneficial effects derived from the location of the public 
buildings in the village beginning to be felt, and about 1812 the Kandalls, William 
and Hoswell, were attracted here from Madison county and engaged in the mercan- 
tile trade. In 1813 another religious society — the Universalist — was formed, and on 
the 19th day of May, 1814, Oourtlandt vill-ige postoffice was established in a front 
room in the house where W. li. Randall now resides, Oliver Wiswell being the first 
postmaster. And during this year, too, was established the first newspaper, the 
Cortland Republican, a four-page (four columns small pica type on a page) paper, 
printed on a 12x18 inches sheet of brownish-white hand-made paper, and edited by 
Benjamin S. and David Campbell. 

It was at about this period that the first manufacturing industry was established — 
a nail factory — in the little old weoden building in which for the past fifty years 
Horace Dibble has carded wool on the same old machine which had served his pre- 
decessor nine or ten years, and was even then second-handed. * Goodwin's ' 'Pioneer 
History" makes mention of a William Sherman, who came to Homer in the Summer 
of 1815, and "soon after, he erected a machine shop for the manufacture of nails — 
the first of the kind in the State of New York — the machinery being so arranged as 
to feed, cut, head and stamp without assistance. On the head of each nail was 
stamped the letter S. Four-penny nails were then worth twenty-five cents per 
pound." I am under the impression, however, that Sherman began manufacturing 
nails in this building, which was erected by a man named McGlure about 181G, and 
^ had a saw mill in the rear, run by the same water privilege, and that he subse- 
quently removed the machinery to Homer, where he continued to manufacture nails 
for a number of years. Mr. Dibble states that when he passed through Cortland in 
1821, nails were then being made here by Sherman's machine, and I have now in my 
possession several nails with the letters W and S stamped on their heads, which 
were with some difficulty drawn out of the clapboards covering the rear of the old 
building, by me, a few moments before these lines were written, and which there is 
every reason for believing were among the first nails manufactured by that machine. 

Both Cortland and Homer were growing with some degree of rapidity, the lattet 
perhaps leading, and the strong rivalry between them led to the establishment, in 
1817, of the Repos/'toi'i/, a weekly newspaper, by Dr. Jesse Searl, and then occurred 
one of those recriminating newsi)aper fights which the editors of this day have not 
as yet outgrown. RosweU Randall was then postmaster, with the ofiice in his store 
on the sovithwest corner of Main and Port Watson streets, and the leading 
members of the bar were Oliver Wiswell, Henry Stephens, Samuel J. Baldwin, 
Townsend Ross, Edward C. Reed and Augustus Donnelly. In 1821 the Methodists, 
who had formed a class in 1804, when the first Methodist meeting was held at the 
house of Jonathan Hubbard, built a church on Church street, and the fact that there 
were three religious societies in the village, indicates that it was making progress. 

"The mail was brought from Syracuse by a four horse stage, the horn announcing 
its arrival being tooted vigorously from the upper end of Main street to the post 
ofiice door. The arrival of one mail and the departure of another were the only en- 
livening events of the day. The postofiice of that time was a very small affair com- 
pared with the one at present, as persons were considered lucky who received one 
letter a month, and in order to get that had often to pay as high as twenty-five 
cents," Samuel Nelson, then a young lawyer who had located in Cortland about 1817, 

*See sketch, "Horace Dibble's Wool Carding Mill," Part II. 



PAST AND PllESENT. H 

was postmaster from May 11, 1822, until succeeded by Charles Lynde. a village 
storekeeper, June 2, 1823, and here was laid the foundation of Chief Justice Nelson's 
successful public career. 

The year 1823 was marked by the erection of two buildings which now form the 
andmarks^of an ahnost forgotten age. It was during this year that the two story 
brick buildmg on the corner of Main and Court streets, now occupied by the Sav- 
ings Bank, was erected by William Eandall for his store, and from a cherry counter 
then placed in the building, Lewis Haunum has made a very fine violin. And it 
was then, also, that the old mill* which mined the health and fortunes of several 
good men was erected by Nelson Spencer for a paper mill. In tracing the history 
of this old mill the following interesting letter, in answer to my request for infor- 
mation, was received from Mr. James H. Sinclair, local editor of the Chenango 
Union, who passed his boyhood days in Cortland : 
•*^ 7^ ,T "Office of the Chenango Union, Norwioh, N. Y., July 27 1883 

D. MoRms KuETz, Esq. : Dear 6Y;-. -Your favor of the 23d inst. was duly received 
and a pressure of business will, I trust, excuse the delay in replying While I 
regret my inability to give you anything like a satisfactory sketch of the old mill- 
my Mecca" still, when I visit Cortland-I will gladly give you what information I 

T\ 7 I ' ""'" '""' ''""' ^ "^"^ ^'^^^'^ *« «^y- It ^a« erected, I am quite sure 
by Nelson Spencer, who was distantly related to the Kandalls, of Cortland Earl^ 
m the spring of 1832 or 1833-the former year, I think, my father, Thomas Sinclair 
incompany with John J. Speed, both of Ithaca, purchased the property-Spence^ 
having failed m business-and father at once removed with his family to Cortland 
andtookchargeof the job of refitting the mill, which was at the time in a veS 
demorahzed condition. From my recollection now, the buildings must have been a 

thT"rr^T°'^- ''''^'"^' ' ^''""^' '^^* ^°^^«« P^P- ^-^ been made 
here, and the machinery was of the most primitive kind. Paper had been made by 

the hand process-the pulp dipped from a vat, in a seive-like frame, forming the 

sheet by gen lyshakmg-a tedious process, and one requiring a skilled workman. 

A that time there was quite a settlement of dwellings clustered around the old mill 

which had been and were afterwards occupied by employees and their families • ani 

there was also a store, owned and run on a small scale by the mill owner. Nearly 

fiLI ^C ^r ^^\ T ^°r *' ^''"^- '^"'^ "^" ^^"^^ °* SP-'J ^ S-«l-r re^ 

d ers TW fl "' ^"^ " ' "^^'^"^ '°^ "^^^^^^ P^P^' ^ut without 

drieis They made fine papers a specialty, and their goods stood foremost in the 
market. It was a busy httle hamlet and a pleasant one. My father died in the 

4 'P"^g ^^^J^-^^' ^^°^ ^°' «°"^« ti«ie after that the business was leased to the employees 
mthemilL About the year 1847, Daniel Bradford, who was engaged in book 
selling in the village, purchased the property, and conducted the business of paper 
making. Here I am at a loss to give you dates, as I had then left the place • but I 
think the next purchaser was Stephen D. Freer, still of Cortland, who converted the 
old establishment into an oil miU. After a time he disposed of it to a Mr Spear fl 
think that was the name,) who continued the same business for some years Then 
It went into the hands of the Messrs. Cooper, who converted it into a foundry and 
machine shop, and are stiU, I believe, its proprietors. * * * Thanking you for 
your kind offer of a copy of the pamphlet, when issued, which I appreciate M^ 
trusting that its pubhcation will meet your expectations Ind those ofTheTublic? 
J^emam, Yours truly, j H g ^ ,] ^ 

The principal event in the ne.xt six years was the granting of a charter'to the 

Syracuse, Bmghamton and New York Railroad, in 1826, and the consequent hopes 
•See sketch, "Cooper Bros. Foundry and Machine Shops," Part II. 



12 PAST AND PRESENT. 

of rapid improvement to which the scheme gave rise, and despondency at its faihire 
to be carried out. ' 'It was most evident that the Tioughnioga Eiver, as a commer- 
cial highway, could never be available to any great extent, and that other channels 
of communication must be provided in order to encourage enterprise and reward 
adventure. State roads had been laid out, and were measurably improved ; and the 
county had been cut up into goros or townships, while each of these w as made to 
resemble an imperfect checker board, being variously marked out by "bridle paths, ' 
or, to say the least, very undesirable roads. The Erie canal, commenced in 1817, 
and completed in 1825, established a more direct line of communication with Eastern 
cities. Previous to this, the heavy goods of our merchants were brought up to 
Albany by way of the North River ; were then conveyed by land to Schenectady ; 
then through the canal at Little Falls ; then through Wood Creek, Oneida Lake, On- 
ondaga River, and the Tioughnioga, or were transported by land and carriage from 
Albany or Utica. Cattle were usually driven to the Philadelphia markets ; potash 
was sent to New York or Montreal ; wheat was shipped on rafts and arks down the 
Tioughnioga and Susquehanna to Baltimore. Internally shut out from the natural 
advantages or the more remote benefits of artificial communication with which other 
sections of the country were blessed, the citizens located on the rich flats of Cort- 
land, Homer and Preble were made thrice joyful in their exultations of success. 
The toils, the sacrifices, and the cost of building a railroad had not, however, been 
fully considered or counted, and hence the active projectors were doomed, like the 
i nexperienced alchemist, to see their golden dream fade away. " Considerable im- 
provement had been made in the village during these years, however, the Presby- 
terian society, which had been organized in 1824, having built in 1828 the frame 
edifice still standing on Church street ; William Randall erecting in the same year 
the mansion on Main street, now occupied by Randolph Randall, which has not in 
the least changed in appearance, except it be in the marks of time ; the female 
boarding seminary, which Oliver W. Brewster conducted for a number of years in 
the old frame building then standing on the north-west corner of Main and Court 
streets, which had formerly been occupied by Eb. Hopkins as a tavern, and in which 
music and the languages were taught the young ladies, many of whom were attracted here 
from a distance, and then after a time converted into a tenement house, and finally 
removed to its present site, where it is occuj^ied by Smith & Kingsbury's hardware 
store, also being opened this year; and the pojiulation somewhat increasing. John 
Lyndes, a physician, had succeeded Charles Lyndes as postmaster in December, 
1824, and kept the office at his house, about half-way between Cortland and Homer, 
until he was succeeded, July 28, 1825, by Roswell Randall, who removed it to his 
store in the old Eagle block, opi^o site the Messenger House corner. 

The bitter feeling engendered between Cortland and Homer by the success of the 
former in securing the public buildings in 1810, and which had been kept alive and 
fanned into a flame by the newspapers of the rival villages, culminated in 1829 in 
the division of the township, Cortlandville township being formed from the southern 
part of Homer. The village then contained about 400 or 500 inhabitants, with the 
usual complement of stores and taverns, and had as manufacturing industries the 
paper mill of Nelson Spencer, the wool carding and cloth dressing mill of Martin 
Merrick, who purchased the nail factory for this purpose when William Sherman 
removed that enterprise to Homer, and the pottery of Sylvester Blair, which had 
just been established by him on the North side of Court House Hill.* 

Time passed on, on its never returning journey, and the village made progress 
slowly but surely, another accession to its manufacturing ranks being received in 

*See sketch "The Tioughniogian Pottery," Part II. 



PAST AND PllESENT. 13 

1832 in the establishment of a small foundry and machine shop by Daniel Lamed,* 
ou Port Watson street. The community was evidentlj' a religious one, and gave 
freely of their means, to the cause of the Lord, for in 1833 it is found that the 
Baptist society built a new edifice ou Church street. But as an offset to this Dan- 
forth Merrick had built the Cortlaud Hou.se the preceding year. Canfield Marsh was 
the postmaster, having succeeded John Lyndcs on the 28th of July, 1830, and keep- 
ing the office in his store in the old wooden building which stood on the present 
site of the Union Hall block, where he was a manufacturer of and dealer in hats 
and caps, and Rufus A. Reed was the editor of the Republican and Eagle, a consoli- 
dation of the CariiawZ ^ep?^6^?x;ff /land //o/wct" Eagle, which occurred about 1832. 
"Mr. Reed's printing office was in the second story of what was once known as 
Elder's store, but in 183G the three story building now known as the Keator block, 
on the corner of Main and Port Watson streets, was erected by Webb & Edgccomb, 
merchants, and the Repuhlican office was removed to the corner rooms in the third- 
story of that structure. The second story was occupied by Horatio Ballard and Dr. 
A. B. Shipman in front, and J. Depuy Freer in a rear room over what is now the 
drug store of G. W. Bradford. Of Mr. Ballard there is no present need to speak ; 
but the mention of the name of Depuy Freer will call to the minds of your older 
iuhaljitants an excellent lawyer and genial man, whose comparatively early death 
was greatly regretted."? During this period, also, was published the Cortland 
Advocate, a Democratic or Jacksonian paper, edited by Henry S. Randall, which 
succumbed in 1838. 

The location of the Court House on the hill appears to have become, for some 
unknown reasons, objectionable (although it would seem that a more desirable site 
could not be chosen), and the old structure was accordingly condemned, and pro- 
nounced "unsafe," and about 1837 the brick building, with its stone jail in the rear, 
on the corner of Court and Church streets, was erected, the deed of the land on 
which it stands bearing date February 18, 1837. In this year, too, the Univerfalists 
built their church, and it was about this time that Charles W. Sanders first issued his 
"Sander's Speller," the press work being done on an ordinary hand printing press 
in the Republican and Eagle office and Daniel Bradford doing the binding. Two 
years later — the first week in September, 1839 — the Cortland County Agricultural 
Society which had been organized in 1838, held their first exhibition in the school build- 
ing afterwards occupied by the Cortlandville Academy, and November 14, 1839 
Richard Scouten, proprietor of the old Eagle "tavern," then a two-story building, 
succeeded Canfield Marsh as postmaster, and as he kept the office in his ' 'tavern ' ' 
there were doubtless many callers for "mail." 

The exciting Presidential campaign of 1840 was then approaching, and the Demo- 
crats, being without an organ, a stock subscription was secured, and in the spring 
of 1840 the Cortland Democrat was issued, with Seth Haight and Henry W. Depuy 
as the editors and publishers. Among the older of the Democratic leaders in the 
village at that time were Joseph Reynolds, Henry Stephens, Roswell Randall, William 
Bartht, J. Depuy Freer and Anthony Freer, and among the younger were Horatio 
Ballard, Henry S. Randall, Frederick Hyde, Henry Brewer, William H. Shankland 
James S. Leach, WilUam P. Lyndes, Andrew Dickson and William B. Allen. The 
Republicans or Whigs, more properly speaking, numbered among their leaders, 
Rufus A. Reed, Oren Stimson, Harry McGraw, John J. Adams, Tercius Eels, Gid- 
eon Babcock, Joel B. Hibbard, Danforth Merrick, James C. Pomeroy and Daniel 

*See sketch, "The Cortland Machine Company," Part II. 

tUeniiniscences of "Journalism in Cortland County," by H. G. Crouch, in Cortland 
Standard, May 3, 1883, 



14 PAST AND PRESENT. 

Hawks. In the meantime the Republican and Eagle was reorganized under the 
name of the Cortland County Whig, with Harmon S. Conger, ' ' a young lawyer of 
ability and ambition," in editorial charge, and " the Democrats and Whigs kept up 
a weekly fusilade of wit, and as much argument as could be expected under the cir- 
cumstances." 

The post-office appears to have been knocked about like a shuttle-cock at this 
time, Joel B. Hibbard succeeding Richard Scouten as "P. M.," February 24, 1841, 
and transferring the office from the "Eagle Tavern" to his store on the opposite 
corner of Main and Port Watson streets. His term was very brief, however, he be- 
ing succeeded, a couple mouths later, (May 15, 1841), by Tercius Eels, a merchant 
whose store was in the long, low, white building, then on the present site of the 
Garrison Block. Then on the 14th of May, 1842, Danforth Merrick was appointed, 
and removed the post-office to the "Cortland Tavern," but on September 6th of 
the same' year, Andrew Dickson was appointed his successor, and the office again 
was located at the corner of Main and Port Watson streets. As the incumbents were 
all of one political faith, these frequent changes would seem to indicate that the 
postmastership was not the desirable position it now is. 

The Cortlandville Academy was incorporated in 1842, occupying the district school 
building, (to which additions were constantly being made), then standing on the 
present Normal School grounds, and ' ' Cortland and Homer were two as refined and 
intelligent communties as could be found in the State. Two academical institutions 
and excellent common schools throughout the county, to furnish the former with 
students, had raised the standard of culture high. A change in the farming methods 
at this period, by largely increasing the dairy interests, gave rapid advancement and 
prosperity to the agricultural population. The farmers grew in wealth ; their homes 
and surroundings improved, and the wooded hills rapidly appeared as rich pastures 
or cultivated fields." The county was increasing in population and productive 
resources and renewed efforts were made to revive or obtain a new charter for the 
Syracuse, Biughauiton and New York Railroad, but for the time being proved futile. 

Soon after the Presidential contest of 1844, the Cortland County Whig was re- 
moved to Homer, leaving the Democrat the sole representative of Cortland's inter- 
ests, and it was in the office of this paper, in 184.5, that D. R. Locke, who as "Pe- 
troleum V. Nasby" is now so well known in both hemispheres, entered as an ap- 
prentice to learn the "arc preservative." About 1846 the Liberty Herald was es- 
tablished by James W. Eels and Nathaniel Goodwin. It "was the sensation of the 
day. It was printed in the room of the Elder building, vacated by the Whig office. 
John Thomas was the editorial writer, and editorials filled the little sheet of a temper 
and language that made vivid the clanking chains of the slave, and created the illu- 
sion that one could hear the blood-hounds bark and the crack of the slave-driver's 
whip!" The paper passed through several hands, including Rev. Samuel R. Ward, 
"the eloquent black orator and preacher," and finally, after a hard struggle of a few 
years, suspended. Apart from these incidents there was nothing of importance to 
chronicle until the revival of the railroad project in 1848-9, when "meetings were 
called in various sections, and the people were ably and eloquently addi-essed with 
reference to the propriety of immediate action in behalf of the laudable enterprise." 
Books were opened for subscriptions, and in 1850 sufficient stock was subscribed to 
warrant the making of surveys, and in 1852 the work of grading the road was com- 
menced. 

Cortland had become a village of nearly 1,500 inhabitants, and apphed for a village 
charter, which was granted the 5th day of November, 1853, and on the 3d day of De- 
cember the first bank was opened by William R, Randall, with Jona,than Hubbard 



PAST A.ND PKESENT. ir> 

as cawliier. The principal business firms were J. W. Stnrtevant <fcCo., J. S. Squires, 
S. E. Wolch, W. O. Barnard, Daniel Bradford, William Fish, James Van Valen, 
Cloycs itjTodd, Anthony and S. D. Freer, Henry Brewer and John McFarlan, with 
D. C. Dickinson as one of the leading manufacturers, he having begun manufactur- 
ing boots and shoes in 1 8o0, and then employing .about twenty workmen. Jehiel 
Taylor had succeeded Andrew Dickson as postmaster, April 18, 184H, and Henry G. 
Crouch, now editor of the Kingston Argus, and from whose interesting reminis- 
cences of "Cortland Journalism" I have liberally excerpted, was the editor and pub- 
lisher of the Bemocrat. But although Cortland had made considerable progress, 
Hom?r was somewhat in the lead, and was considered the leading place in the 
county. 

Eighteen hundred and fifty-four was a year long to be remembered ! For it was 
in this year that the completion of the long-talked-of and much-hoped-for railroad 
project was witnessed. And the memory of James M. Schermerhoru, "to whose un- 
remitting and laborious exertions the company are mainly indebted for the final 
completion of the road," and of the Hon. Henry Stephens, its first President, and 
also the other citizens of Cortland and Homer who so nobly lent their assistance, 
should ever be kept green bj' the people who are now reaping the benefits of their 
public sjiiritedness and enterprise. The Syraciise, Bingbamton and New York 
Eailroad was formally opened to the public on the 18th and lltth days of October, 
18.')4 ; and they were gala days, too ! An excursion party went over the road, and 
"the train consisted of twenty-seven cai's, which were crowded to such an extent 
that it was impossible for only a portion to be sealed. The display at the various 
stations presented a somewhat truthful conception of the joy of our citizens. From 
every church that had a bell went forth a joyous welcome ; cannons were fired ; and 
bonfires and illuminations signalized the auspicious event." Cortland received what 
was then considered a "boom," and it is learned that during 18.56 Randall's bank 
transacted a business amounting to $4,810,685.2."), and that the amount paid out by 
James VanValen, J. D. Schermerhoru, James S. Squires and J. A. Graham, for 
butter shipped by them, exceeded |!240,Onn, while the amount of freight shipped 
from Cortland station over the Syracxise, Binghaniton and New York Railroad from 
April 1. IS.-)."), to March 24, IS.'.G, was .5,888,100 pounds, or a little more than 2,941 
tons! "Comparisons are odious," but the reader's attention is nevertheless called 
to the freight shipment-; from Cortland in 1882. 

It was liuring the winter of ]8.')3-4 that the Cortland Rural Cemetery Association 
was incorporated, and on the 11th day of August, 18.")4, the beautiful grounds lying 
on the Jiorth side of Monroe Heights wore dedicated by the Rev. D. W. Bristol, of 
Ithaca. And it will bo noticed that as the population of the village increases the 
number of its churches arc also increased, the Catholics building a chapel on Wash- 
ington street in I8r>r), and the Episeopals erecting an edifice on Court street in 1859. 
Fairs were hold by the Cortland County Agricultural Society yearly, and although 
regular grounds and buildings were not jiossessed, and the exhibitions were held on the 
common or in the school buildings, Cortland supplying the location one year and 
Homer the next, they are said to have been highly successful, interesting and in- 
structive, and probably more interest being felt in the event than there is now-a- 
days. But the society purchased the land now owned by them in the northern part 
of the village in 1S.18, a trotting track was laid, exhibition buildings erected, and in 
I8.'i0 the first county fair was held on permanent grounds. Hiram Crandall was 
postmaster, and the village again boasted of two newspapers, the Cortland Gazette, 
published by C. Parley "Cole, and the Jiejmbl/can B^nvrr, which had just been 
established in 1858, by E. D. Van Slyck anc^ Peter H, B'.Uvi-on. The Gazette was 



16 PAST AND PEESENT. 

Democratic in politics, and the successor of the Cortland American, piibUshed as a 
Kuow-Nothiug organ a couple years by Edwin F. Gould, who had purchased the 
Democrat of H. G. Crouch in IS.!.") and cban^'ed its title, but in 1861, Mr. Van Slyck 
the editor of the Banner, desiring to go out as a volunteer with the Seventy-sixth 
Regiment, sold liis paper to Mr. Cole, who consolidated the Gazette and Banner, 
and conducted it as a llepublicau p.tpor. And to the war of the rebellion Cortland 
sent its full (piota of the bravo souls who offarjd up their lives that the Uuiou might 
be peserved. 

The opening of the Syracuse, Bingharatou and New York Railroad had, it is true, 
given somewhat of an impetus to the growth of the village, but up to this period it 
was only of that character which souietimes attends localities po-fsessing resources 
and advantages not yet fully imderstood or developed, and forces them along almost 
against their own volition, and in luSCi I it only numbered a little more than 2,000 
anhal)itants. It is not unfrequently that the destroying element — fire — proves de- 
cid''dly beneficial in its effects upon (ho futurii of a community ; and example often 
leads to tlie greatest i-esults. Such, at least, may be said to have been the case with 
Corlland. In January, ISfil!, a fire broke out in the old Eagle Hotel, and destroyed 
the entire lilock on the corner of Main and Port Watson streets, which included 
the I)uildings occupied by Henry Brewei''s harness and J. McFarlan& Co.'s furniture 
catablishments. For a year the blackened ruins lay in grim contrast with the pretty 
grecnswai'd on the opposite corner, but on which to-day stands the magnificent 
Standard Block. Thou H. J. Messenger, at tha^. tiuio in the full tide of prosperity, 
commenced the erection of the fine hotel building now beai'ing (he name of the 
Messenger House, and Messrs. Brewer and McFarlau also began their work of re- 
building. Upon the completion of the Messenger House, in lS(i4-, Mr. Messenger 
commenced tbc building of Taylor Hall block, which, when thrown open in 1 S(!."), 
was the first public hall in the village, as it was, also, the first building of really large 
proportions erected. And although the progress then made maybe partly attributable 
to the effects of the war, it is acknowledged that to the example set by H. J. Messenger 
is Cortland indebted for that progress which followed. "Let honor be given where 
honor is due." 

The introduction of gas in the village in 18G3 by the Cortland and Homer Gas 
Company, which had been organized in 18()1, was an evidauco of progress, as \v'as 
abo 'be organization of the First National Bank in 18G+, the Savings Bank in 18(i(>, 
yind the Cortland National Bank in 18Gt). In 18G6 the Methodists built a fine new 
-' church on the site of the old structure, and in 18G8 the Catholics erected a new 
church on North Main street. But the crowning event of this decade was the iustitu- 
tion of the State Normal and Training School, which succeeded the old Cortlaudville 
.\cademy, and was erected on the grounds occupied by the Academy since 1842. 
The following brief sketch of the State Normal and Training School was kindly 
fiirnished by Dr. J. H. Hoose, the accomplished Principal : "This school was in- 
stituted Tinder Chapter 466, Laws of 1866 of the State of New York. The building 
and property were deeded to the State by the Corporation of Cortland Village, in 
1868, the valuation being not far from $100,000. Hon. Abram B, Weaver was State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction at that time. He appointed iii December, 1868, 
to constitue the Local Board, Hon. Henry S. Randall, Dr. Frederick Hyde, Hon. R. 
Holland Duell, Hon. Horatio Ballard, Norman Chamberlain, Charles C. Taylor, 
Henry Brewer, WilUara Newkirk, and Aaron Stafford. Mr. Randall became 
President. His first oflicial communication to the Board was to the effect that self- 
devotion to the school as a State trust, and harmony and unanimity in counsel and 
purposes should characterize the proceedings of the Board. Mr. Stafford died in 



PAST AND PRESENT. 17 

1S72, aud Mr. Kobei't Bruce Smith was appointed to the vticanc}'. Mr. Kaudall died 
iu 187f>, when Dr. Hyde became President, aud .Mr. J. S. Squires was appointed to 
fill the place. Mr. Ballard died iu 1871), and Mr. J. C. Carmichael was appointed to 
the vacancy. The policy which was inaugurated by Mr. Randall has been steadily 
followed by all those who were in the Board with him ; the scliool has prospered 
ever since it opened, which was on March 3, ISd'J. It has sent out about 400 
Normal graduates : nearly 2,400 Normal students have been connected with it. It 
has three courses of study : An Elementary English Course, of two years ; an Ad- 
vanced Enghsh Course, of three years ; and a Classical Course, of four years. The 
last year of fcach course is devoted to professional work, theory and practice. There 
is a large school of practice connected with the Normal school, embracing ten gnulos 
of thorough courses of study, l)eginning with pupils when they are of legal .school 
age, which is five years old, and graduating when they are fifteen or sixteen years 
old. Students must be sixteen years old in order to enter the Normal School. Dr. 
J. H. Hoose has been principal of the school since its opening in 186IK" 

Always well represented by newspapers, from which such an epccelleut idea of the 
character of A community can .usually be formed, — of its sluggishness or thrift, of its 
backwardness or its enterprise, — these years had not been an exception to the rule. 
The Democrat had been reorganized in lS(i4 by H. G-. Crouch and M. P. Calleuder, 
who conducted it until 18(J8, when it was sold to Benton B. Jones, and successfully 
continued by him. In 18(17 Frank G. Kinney established the Corthind Standard, a 
32-column Republican paper, which was well received and met with success, and the 
Gazette and Banner was still published by C. Parley Cole. But upon the death of 
Mr. Cole in 18(50, his paper was sold to W, H. Livermore, who changed its name to 
the Weekly Journal Mr. Kinney's health failing in 1872, he m\d the IStemelard to 
Wesley Hooker, who also purchased the Journal, and consolidated them under the 
title of the Standard and Journal. Horace A. Jarvis sixcceeded Hiram Crandall as 
postmaster, the Kith of March, 18(;i, and held the position for seventeen years, his 
term not expiring until Julj' 13, 1878, when the present incumbent, James A. Nixon 
was appointed. 

The old charter of 1 8.">;! had been repealed, and a new and special village charter 
granted April 28, 1804 ; a new era of prosperity had set in ; the village began to grow 
more rapidly, moi'e business houses wei'e established, more dwellings were erected, / 
aud the sister village of Homer, which had ijreviously led Cortland in progross,/ V7/^ 
in turn being led by her younger rival. The opening of theUtica, Ithaca aud Elm(, 
Railroad from Ithaca to Cortland, in 1872, conferred additional facilities and advan-, 
tages upon the village, and it steadily increased in population and in importance as 
the marketing centre for this section. Many improvements wei-e made, the Baptist 
congregation in 1872 erecting a new church on the site of their old edifice at a cost 
of $:52,000; two new manufacturing enterprises were started; in 1874 the work of ' 
grading the streets was commenced ; in 187() the antiquated structure which had 
been occupied as the County Clerk's oflice since 1819 was removed, a handsome 
building of fine properties erected in its place, and Main street otherwise improved. 
And during that year a writer described it as being "one of the most beautiful and 
healthy towns in the Empire State, with a population of 3,308," but "it is chiefly 
noted for the location of the Normal School." 

But the history of the past ten years is a familiar one — how in 1872 Fitzgerald & 
Kinne began manufacturing platform spring wagons on what was then considered a 
large scale — how from this beginning has sprung the great Cortland Wagon Com- 
pany, the most extensive manufacturers of platform spring wagons in the world; — 
how in 187(^ the Wickw^e Bros, bought an old hand-loom an*,! began weaving wire 



18 PAST AND PRESENT. 

cloth — how C. F. Wickwire invented power looms, and they have become the largest 
manufacturers— save one — of wire cloth and wire goods in America ; — 
how in 1877 C. B. Hitchcock came to Cortland a comparatively 
poor man — how in six years he has built itp a business from $4,000 to 
$500,000 a year and become the largest manufacturer of cutters in 
the world; — how other manufactories, which have proven equally successful, sprung 
into existence, within the last few years, and where in 1874 there were only two 
utilizing steam power there are now nearly a score ; — how in the past two years there 
wero 450 new buildings erected and the village increased 2,000 in population, and 
where in 1880 there were 4,000 there are now 6,000 inhabitants ; — all this is familiar 
and leaves but little miorc for me to say. 

The success the Cortland Wagon Works and Wickwire Bros. Wire Works had 
met, awoke the latent energies and stimulated the enterprise of the people, and 
from 1877 dates the new epoch in its history. New manufactming and other en- 
terprises were started ; new buildings commenced in various parts of the village ; 
the Canastota, Cazenovia and Delluyter Railroad was completed to Delluyter in 
1878, giving another outlet ; still greater success attended the industries established, 
requiring the employment of larger numbers of workmen ; prosperity reigned and 
the census of 1880 showed a i^opulation of 4,050. Then Cortland began to grow as 
it had never grown before ; its jieople were fully awakened to the possibilities of 
their village ; another factory was built, more workmen were given employment, 
and in 1880 there were forty-three new buildings erected. During the year 1881 was 
witnessed increased activity in all branches of trade and manufacture, the older fac 
tories were enlarged, new ones established, and one hundred and seventy-five new 
buildings were erected. The year 1882 was a repetition of this, only on a larger 
scale, two hundred and seventy-five new buildings being erected, the Second Na- 
tional Bank established and ahorse car railroad, connecting Cortland and Homer, 
constructed. And a census taken in the Winter of that year showed a population of 
(!,000, while an idea of the volume of the business transacted may be obtained from 
the statement that during 1882, 67,812 tons of freight were handled at the Syracuse, 
Biughamton and Now York Railroad* station, and 42,614 tons at the station of the 
Utica, Ithaca and Ehnira liiilroad^a total of 110,426 tons, which does not include 
the imijiense quantity of butter, eggs and poultry, shipped by express. 
'iEighieen hundred and eighty-three has come and is rapidly passing away, but is 
jiiving traces of unprecedented prosperity. Three hundred new buildings have 
been erected, or are contracted for and being built this year, new streets are being 
opened, ground has been broken, and the work of building commenced for a new 
factory in which a large number of workmen will be employed. Efforts are beiug 
made, and will doubtless prove successful, to secure the location here of the Utica 
Ithaca and Elmira railroad shops, with their hundred or more employees, other 
enterprises are in inosi)ective,the industrial and commercial interests of the village are 
in the most highly prosperous condition — and it is no longer " chiefly noted for the 
location of the Normal school," but is noted for its wagon, carriage, sleigh, wire 
goods and other manufactories. 

Cortland is spreading out on the North, the South, the East, the West; it is doited 
with busy manufactories, handsome business structures, tine residences, churches 
and public schools ; "Excelsior" is the motto, " Progress " the watchword, '"Thrift 
and Enterprise " the tokens of success; it is probably growing moie rapidly than 
any other town in the Easl to-day, there is every indication of a continuance of this 

*Failed to report. Estimated from the smallest month's receipts. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 



19 



growth, and just as it is now the most "beautiful, thriving and prosperous village," 
it will undoubtly soon become ou£ of the largest and most beautiful cities in Central 
New York. 







20 PAST AND PKESENT. 

And here let me parenthetically mention an industry of which there is probably but 
little known, but that will yet, small and insignificant as it is in comparison with the 
large industrial establishments, confer as great a reputation upon the place — the 
manufacture of violins. In the third story of one of the business blocks on Main 
street, Lewis Hannum is patiently weaving out for himself — with "his hand for a 
shuttle and his brain for a loom " — a name as the maker of the finest violins pro- 
duced in this country. Following Guarnerius in modeling and Straduiarius in grad- 
ing, he produces a result that is making his violins the favorite with the best 
violinists in America. He commenced in 1875, and has made during that time fifty- 
two violins, which already command large prices, and will increase in value with 
age. 

As a place of residence Cortland offers many attractions — attractions that are equalled 
by few localities in the interior, combining many of the advantages secured in larger 
cities with all the delights and pleasures of a rural life. The climate is decidedly 
healthy ; the atmosphere is clear, pure and invigorating, and it is entirely free from 
all malaria, fever or ague. A never-failing supply of water is obtained at slight cost 
by means of driven wells ; the water in the rivers and brooks is clear as crystal, and 
every brook is a trout brook. It is surrounded by a fertile country noted for its 
daily and food products, and abounding in fine drives, picturesque and beautiful 
scenery. Every branch of mercantile enterprise is represented in the village, ena- 
bling the residents to avail themselves, at home, at reasonable prices, of every re- 
quisite to the comfort, convenience and enjoyment of life. Seven religious denomi- 
natioTis — Baptist, Methodist, Congregational, Universalist, Episcopal, Presbyterian, 
and Catholic — are rejiresented by large congregations and churches. There are five 
district schools within the corporation limits, and tuition is free in the Normal 
School to all village residents, text books also being furnished students free. Three 
first-class newspapers are published weekly — the Uortla7id Standard, a thirty-six 
- column folio, edited and published by William H. Clark, who succeeded Wesley 
Ilodkev, in 187G ; the Cortland County Democrat, also a thirty-six column folio, 
edited and published since ISfJS by Benton B. Jones (with the exception of a brief 
miexyaX), 'AwA the Cortland Netcs, a thirty -two column folio, established in 1880 by 
Buell & Lansing, but edited and published since 1882 by Frank G. Kinney — all in a 
prosperous condition and representative weekly journals. The village is well sup- 
plied with hotels, the Messenger House being one of the finest hotels in the interior 
of the State, first-class in every respect and conducted on a scale of liberality that 
gives it a high rank among the best hotels in the country ; three other very good 
hotels are also possessed in the Dexter House, Central Hotel, and the Cortland. Horse 
cars traverse the entire length of Main street and connect it with Homer, that pretty 
little village of about 3,000 inhabitants, just two miles north. It is illuminated with 
gas of a fine quality, has an efficient volunteer fire department, with a steamer, hook 
and ladder truck, and full equipment of the most improved apparatus, housed in 
Firemen's Hall, (erected in 1875), and every ready to respond to an alarm, while fire 
wells are scattered throughoiit every portion of the village, ensuring an exhaustlesa 
supply of water. On the north side of Monroe Heights is that beautifiul terraced 
city of the dead — Cortland Rural Cemetery, with its winding drives, and elegance of 
lawn and shrubbery — one of the most attractive spots the imagination could con- 
ceive. A handsome iron bridge will in all probability soon span the Tioughnioga, 
Elm street be continued to the apex of Salisbury Hill, and here amid terraces and 
lawns, with a scene of unsurpassable loveliness spread out like a panorama before 
them, be erected some of the most charming homes in the land. Blodgett's Park, 
with its trout ponds, perplexing maze and other wonders in land-Bcape gardening 



PAST AND PRESENT. 21 

affords a pleasant resort for a clay's rest or recrcatioa, while a scheme is in conteru- 
platiou to throw a dam across the Tioiighuioga river, uear the confluence of the 
East and West branches, making it navigable for nearly a mile, and form on its bank 
a public park. From Beuham's Hill on the South, Randall Hill on the North, 
Salisbury Hill on the East, or Monroe Heights on the West, a magnificent landscape 
of rich and varied be.auty is presented to the view, and with all its attractiveness of 
location and surroundings, its churches, educational institutions, beautiful shaded 
streets, elegant public and and private grounds, pretty cottages, handsome rtisi- 
dences, stately mansions, and massive business structures, a more delightful place 
of residence could not be desired. 

As a location for manufacturing enterprises, Cortland certainly presents advan- 
tages that cannot be ignored. The uniform succes.s of the manufactories established 
here within the last ten years, and which is truthfully set forth by .sketches of the 
more prominent industries, in Part II., and not in the lea.st (ixaggerated, conclusively 
proves that it does possess facilities and resources that must and will eventually make 
it a manufacturing centre of still greater importance. Their wonderful success has 
been attained within a very few years — ten years the longest pei'iod — and this, too, 
when Cortland was as yet unknown, and without the advantages or the facilities now 
possessed, and with but little capital but indomitable pluck and enorgj', backed by 
ability and enterprise. And if such unparalleled success can be attained under such 
circumstances, what could not be accomplished now by a combination of greater 
capital, with the facilities and resources now offered, and tbo prestige given to Cort- 
land by its manufactui'ers ? The transportation facilities are unexceptionable, the 
railroads display the most friendly spirit, and maimfacturers are given the benefit of 
special rates that place them on an equality with, if it does not give them advantages 
over, competitors in any locality. The Syracuse, Binghamton and New York Rail- 
road connects at Binghamton with the New Yoi'k, Lake Ei-ie and Western, 
and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroads; at Syracuse with the 
New York Central and the West Shore roads ; the Utica, Ithaca and Elmira con- 
nects at Elmira also with the Erie and Delaware, Lackawanna and Western, and at 
Freeville with the Southern Central, and the Cazenovia, Canastota and DeRuyter 
Railroad also connects at Canastota with the New York Ctoitral — thus giving a 
choice of shipment over live of the greatest rival lines in the State. " New railroad 
entei-prises already on foot, and which give iJromise of speedy and successful com- 
pletion, hold ouf a prospect of enlarged shipping facilities and redu'ced freights, 
increasing the profits of manufacturers already established here, and offering stronger 
inducements for the location or origination of new ones." The village is governed 
by a President and Boai-d of Four Trustees, who, seeing the advantages that accrue 
from the establishment of manufacturing enterprises, wisely pursue a policy of lib- ^ ' 
erality towards maimfacturers that cannot fail to prove mutually beneficial. The \ 
taxes are very moderate, and inducements are held out to manufacturers desiring to 
locate, in both land and taxes, that are worth the most careful consideration. 
Water is free! At a depth of fifteen or twenty feet a .sub-stratum of water 
is struck, in any part of the village, that, when a driven well is sunk, rises in 
the pipe to within a few feet of the surface, affording an exhaustless 
supply at the simple cost of driving the pipe — a cost so slight that this water supply 
forms no inconsiderable item in a manufacturer's favor. Gas sells at $2. SO per 
1,000 cubic feet. The telegraph and expi-ess facilities are equal to the needs of a 
city of large population. Three National Banks and a Savings Bank afford banking 
facilities of an exceptional character. The surrounding country may be described 
as rich valleys and fertile hills, furnishing every variety of food product. The 



ii2 PAST AND PBESENT. 

dairy business has increased to an unparalleled extent, H. Wells, Ives & Schermer- 
horn, E. M. Hulbert and A. VauBergen having purchased and shipped last year 
$350,000 worth of butter. The citizens are alive to the importance of securing other 
industries, contributing liberally of their means and lending their assisiance to pro- 
mote their welfare and the welfare of the community, and enterprise m search of a 
suitable location for the establishment of manufactories or for the investment of 
capital in mechanical indiistries, has, therefore, but to investigate the resources and 
advantages of this village to be convinced that every essential to success is either 
on the spot or within easy and direct access. 

Although Cortland's growth has been exceedingly rapid during the past few years, 
it is not due to speculation, nor has it been the spasmodic or mushroom growth that 
has characterized some towns in the West and in the oil country. Its population has 
been drawn by the demands of its manufactories for labor. These manufactories are 
not conducted simply as a speculation, but, as a rule, by young men desirous of 
building up for themselves a permanent business. Their capital was small, but their 
earnings were invested in the business each succeeding year, and their capacity en- 
larged and increased by this means until they have attained their present prominent 
positions. The secret of their success lies partly in the utilization of labor-saving 
machinery to its utmost limits, and reducing the manufacture of their products to a 
system. But they have won success on their own capital, and there is probably but 
few manufacturing centres in the country to-day which stand on a sounder basis. And 
growing thus rapidly, growing thus soundly on a solid, substantial foundation, who 
can say that the day is far distant when Cortland wiU meet Homer on the north ; the 
banks of the Tioughnioga be lined with factories, the pretty cottages of their work- 
men filling up the entire space between ; that fine stretch of land lying along South 
Main street be dotted with fine business structures or handsome residences ; Monroe 
Heights covered with stately mansions, and the village stretch out on either side into 
a city rivalling any of the beautiful cities that now adorn the southern or central part 
of the Empire State ? 




PART 11 



ITS MANUFACTURING INTERESTS. 



THE CORTLAND WAGON COMPANY. 

ft so c^ HE history of the Cortland Wagon Company, which in a few years has 
J/^ ^iL transformed a qviiet, sleepy village into a busy, bustling manufacturing 
"^ place ; whose products have made it known throughout all the length 

and the breadth of this great land ; whose wonderful success has been 
the means of starting other industries, which give pi-omise of a like 
brilliant career, and must attract stiU other industries and still further enhance its 
reputation and advance its growth, is a doubly interesting one — interesting to the 
disinterested reader as an illustration of what may be accomplished in a few years 
by a combination of capital, of ability, of enterprise, and interesting to the inhabi- 
tants of the place it has made, the value of whose property it has so largely in- 
creased, and who feel a justifiable pride in its success, as well as to the thousands 
upon thousands of people throughout the country, who are to-day benefitting by 
the products of the establishment, and have a curiosity to know something about it. 
The career of this comjjany has been one of the most wonderfully successful ones 
known, they having in ten years accomplished that which has but seldom been 
accomplished in forty or fifty years. And this, too, during a period of national de- 
pression when even the oldest and largest manufacturing concerns in the country 
were satisfied to tide over the difficulties of those trying times, without retrogres- 
sion, and gave but little heed to thoughts of progression. But still more wonderful 
does the success they have attained appear, when it is considered that the same 
degree of success was only attained by the prominent manufacturing enterprises of 
the day after forty or fifty years' struggle, even with all the advantages derived from 
the inflated times and advanced prices incident to and following the war of the 
rebellion. Although the business from which it has grown was established in 1869, 



24 PAST AND PKESENT. 

the history of the Cortland Wagon Company really dates only from 1872, when the 
first move was mad-i towards building wagons for the general market. And from a 
l^rbductiou of 500 wagons in 1872, the busine>:s has steadily grown, doubling itself 
year after year, until 12,000 wagons are now made and sold per aunum ! 

In the small two story frame building now occupied by the Cortland County 
Democrat, the wagon making business of which the great Cortland Wagon Company 
of to-day is the outgrowth, was established in 1869 by Messrs. Fitzgerald & Gee. 
It was a business such as is usually found in small villages, and had an annual out- 
put of about I.'jO wagons. And as such it contmued until 1872, when Mr. Gee's in- 
terest was purchased by Mr. C. W. Kinne. Then a new life was infused into the 
business; then it was that the idea of building platform spring wagons for the genT 
eral market was first put into execution. New and larger buildings adapted 
for the jjurpose were erected on llailroad street, and the first year of the partaership 
of the now firm of Fitzgerald & Kinne was marked by the manufacture and said of 
500 of these wagons. 

The plan adopted was to build a wagon first-class in every particular, and by 
building them in large quantities be enabled to sell them at a much lower price than 
could wagon makers who build but a few each year, and still make a reasonable 
profit. And the wisdom of the plan was immediately demonstrated, 700 wagons 
being produced and sold in ]87.'5, the second year; and in the third year the business 
doubled itself, the output in 1874: being 1,000 wagons. The year 1875, the fourth 
year, was marked by a production of 1,500 wagons, and the firm then assumed the 
title of the Cortland Wagon Manufacturing Company, and the business having out- 
grown the dimensions of their works on llailroad street, they erected the wood- 
working shoji, (the north building) on the present site of their immense establish- 
ment. 

The reputation they had acquired by this time created a still more largely increased 
demand for their products to supply, which in 187G required the building of 2,200 
wagons. And upon the death of Mr. Kinne in May, 1877, the enttre management 
of this extensive business devolved upon Mr. Fitzgerald. But he was fully equal to 
the task and produced that year 3,200 wagons, and erected in the fall of 1877 the 
large south building of the new works. The production in 1878 v/as the same as 
that in 1877, and in the latter part of the year a stock company — the present Cort- 
land Wagon Company — was formed, with a capital $100,000, the directors being 
Messrs. L. J. Fitzgerald, W. J. Tisdale, Hugh Duffey and N. D. Welch. 

The new company took possession of the works on the first of January, 1879, and 
produced during their first year between 5,000 and 6,000 vehicles, which was in- 
creased in 1880 to 8,000, the same number being manufactured and sold in 1881. 
In the fall of 1880 the middle building and the east building, which connects the 
north and south buildings, were erected, and on the first day of April, 1881, the old 
works on Railroad street were abandoned and the whole business centered at this 
point, between the S. B. & N. Y., andU. I. & E. Railroads, with specialtracks from 
both roads running into the works. Here the facilities were still more largely in- 
creased, until they are now manufacturing and selling 12,000 platform spring 
wagons, buggies and phajtons per year, thirty railway cars of an extra large size 
being owned by the company and employed in the transportation of their products 
to all parts of the United States ! 

With the exception of Mr. Welch, who withdrew, the directors are the same as 
when the Company was organized, Mr. L. J. Fitzgerald, the founder of the estab- 
lishment, being President ; Mr. Hugh Duffey, Vice-President and General Superin- 
tendent ; Mr. W. D. Tisdale, Treasurer, and Mr. Frank Place, Secretary ; and the 



PAST AND PRESENT. 



25 



Cortland Wagon Company has become probably the largest manufacturers of "spring 
work" in the world, employing from ;}8() to 425 men, and paying out $18,000 
monthly in wages, their works, valued at $500,000, covering nine acres of ground, 
and having ii capacity for producing 18,000 vehicles per annum, or one every ten 
minutes ! 



^JfT^, 




;^ 




1 




Such an unqualified success could not be obtained without merit of a high order 
however, and although the growth of the industry has been very rapid, it is clearly 
shown to have been steady, natural and healthful, due altogether to the quality and 
price of its products and the enterprise and ability of its conductors. From building 
platform spring wagons exclusively, the business was extended to buggies and 



2(5 PAST AND PRESENT. 

phaetons, until now there are more than thirty-two different styles of platform spring 
wagons, buggies and phtetons manufactured, which are warranted and sold at 
prices ranging from $50 to $?>nO each. These vehicles being shipped to every part 
of this country, and many exported to other countries, have made tor this company 
and for the village of Cortland a reputation that is proving mutually beneficial. 



THE WICKWIRE BROTHERS' WIRE \A/'ORKS. 

Dividing the honors with the Cortland Wagon Company, to the Wickwire Broth- 
ers an equal meed of praise is due for the transformation wrought in Cortland 
during the past ten years. Commencing in 1874, when the village contained only 
about 3,000 inhabitants, to manufacture wire cloth on a very small scale, the Wick- 
wire Brothers steadily advanced until they occupy the position of the second largest 
manufacturers of this class of goods in the United States, giving employment to 
nearly two hundred people and paying out thousands of dollars in wages every 
month. And had it not been for the establishment of these two industries, which 
awoke the latent energies of its people, stimulated their enterprise and attracted to 
it other enterprising men, in all probability Cortland would have remained the same 
small village it was ten years ago. 

Engaged in the retail hardware trade in the village when they conceived the idea 
of establishing a woven wire factory, in 1874, C. F. and T. H. Wickwire put in 
operation a small factory with one hand-loom, producing about one hundred and fifty 
square feet of wire cloth a day. There was then but little demand for these goods, 
but they placed the product of their loom upon the market, and it met with such a 
ready sale that more looms were added, and in the second year they decided to 
abandon the hardware trade and devote their sole attention to this business. A de- 
mand was soon created for their wire cloth, which increased so steadily that enlarge- 
ments of the factory were continually necessary and being made. The hand-looms 
were too slow, and the elder brother, possessing considerable mechanical ingenuity, 
devoted his attention to the perfection of a power loom, which he successfully 
accomplished and put in operation on the first of January, 1877. Then the factory 
was overhauled, power looms being substituted for the hand looms, and the facilities 
increased gradually. But with increased facilities came an increased demand for 
their products ; again and again it became necessary to build additions to their fac- 
tory, and success was attained beyond even their most sanguine expectations. Being 
dependent upon wire mills in other parts of the country for the drawn wire 
used by them, they determined to erect a miU and draw the wire them- 
selves, and accordingly the large wire mill on South Main street, near the U. , I. & E. 
Railroad depot, was built in 1880 and put in operation, they being the first and only 
manufacturers of woven wire in this country to draw their own wire. And their 
whole history is but a repetition of this same story of a constantly increasing de- 
mand for their products and increase of productive capacity every year to meet it. 
Seven million square feet alone of the wire cloth, for which they found but a limited 
demand when they commenced manufacturing, are now annually required to supply 
their trade, and the business which amounted to but $10,000 in 1874 had grown to 
$200,000 a year in 1882 ! 

The Wickwire Bros, now manufacture 30, 000 square feet of fine wire cloth per day, 
or 10,000,000 square feet per year, besides an immense quantity of dish covers, corn 
poppers, coal selves, flour selves, etc., and the equipment of their works — the 
machinery of which was designed and constructed by themselves — is not surpassed 
by any establiBbment in this country. The wire mills occupy a large four-story brick 



PAST AND PRESENT. 27 

structure, 40 feet in width and 165 in length, with a wing 40x75 feet in dimensions, 
and an engine house 40x34 feet. Here the wire is "drawn" from one-fourth of an 
inch in diameter down to the thickness of a hair, and the wire which was worth four 
cents a pound when it came from Sweden is worth twenty-flve cents a pound when it 
is finished and woven into wire cloth. Three floors of this building are occupied for 
drawing wire, and one floor for weaving, thirty-five looms being in operation. Two 
engines of 150-horse power are required to drive the machinery here, and seventy- 
five people are given employment. The three frame buildings in the rear of No. 31 
Main street, comprising the main factory, are occupied by the weaving, wood work- 
ing, painting and shipping departments and the office. These buildings are three 
stories in height, and form an H. The north building is 115 feet in length and 50 
feet wide, with a painting tower seven stories high on the northeast corner. The 
south building is 110 feet long and 30 feet wide, and the building connecting these 
two in the middle is 25x50 feet in dimensions, alongside of which is the engine and 
boiler house. A force of 100 people are employed here and 45 looms operated, an 
engine of 40-hor8e power driving the machinery in the various departments, much 
of which is very ingenious. By reducing the- cost of production thay have reduced 
the price of fine wire cloth, which sold at five cents a square foot, when they began 
manufacturing it, to two and one-quarter cents a square foot, and are the largest 
makers of flour seives in the trade, producing more than any other five manufac- 
turers. Owning a half interest in a sawmill, where all lumber is prepared for them, 
drawing their own wire, and their factories being equipped with the most perfect 
power looms and other machinei-y, there is not a concern in the country possessing 
equal facilities for doing this work. 

In less than ten years the Wickwire Brothers have made a name in the manufac- 
turing world that reflects the highest credit upon themselves and this, their native 
place, conferring such substantial benefits upon Cortland as will ever cause them to 
be remembered with pride by its citizens. 



THE EXCELSIOR TOP COMPANY. 

Uniform and, it might be said, phenomenal success has characterized the estab- 
hKhnient of every manufacturing enterprise in the village since 1872, a good illustra- 
tion of which is furnished by the Excelsior Top Company, mauufacturei-s of tops, 
dashes and trimmiugsfor the carriage trade. In March of 1S81, L. K. Tenuoy rented 
a portion of the old Gee shop, on Port Watson street, and began manufacturing 
carriage tops under this title, having but one man in bin employ. Mr. Tenney was 
a practical carriage trimmer, who had been making carriage tops by contract in the 
wagon works here, when he determined to enter the business on bis own account, 
and, to use his own expression, "either make or break." He laid out all his capital, 
which was not large, in stock, and then went out " on the road " to get orders. His 
indomitable pluck overcame all obstacles, and from the very start won for him suc- 
cem. In two months it was necessary to secure more work-room, the shop was 
removed to large rooms near Benton's planing mill, and at Ihe end of the year his 
books showed that a business of $40,00(1 iiad been trausact-jtl during the ten months 
in which he had been engaged in thu trade. On the first of January, 1882, the shop 
was removed to still larger quarters in the Cortland Machine Company's liuildingo, 
the working force was steadily increased, and the. close of the second year disclosed 
the fact that the business of 1882 was more than double that of 1881, amounting in 
round numbers to $00,000. Land was then pui-ohased at Nos. 143, 145 and 147 Elm 
street, and ground broken for a large factory. Mr. W. H. Newton was admitted to 



28 PAST AND PRESENT. 

a partuorsbip on the first of January, 1883, and qn the 10th of that month they 
removed into the new building, where about sixty-five male and female operatives 
are employed, and one hundred carriage tops, one hundred dashes, forty cushions 
and forty backs are ti;rned out every day. And the young man who went into the 
business a couple of years since, willing to work hard to build up a business of 
!|10,000 or $20,000 a year, will this year have the satisfaction of transacting a busi- 
ness amounting to fully $200,000 ! A just reward for his hard work, his pluck and 
his enterprise. The factory, which is J)()X-1:0 feet in dimefisions, three stories, with a 
building 30x(;0 feet adjoining, has been well equipi^ed with everything that will save 
labor, a tweuty-horsc power engine driving the machinery, and" alrcadj' produces 
more carriage tops than any other concern in the country. A trade has been secured 
which extends from Maine to California, and the demand for the Excelsior Toi^ Com- 
pany's work is steadily inci-easing. Both Mr. Tcnney and Mr. Newton are practical 
men, capal)le of doing every part of the work themseh'es, and this fact doubtless 
has much to do with the success they are meeting. The factory is under the super- 
intendence of Mr. Newton, while Mr. Tonuey represents the interests of the firm 
abroad, coustautlj"- making new friends and customers ; and that their success will 
not only continue, but be still more marked with each recurring year, there is not 
the least doubt, and for it they have the goo 1 wishes of all interested in the velfare 
of Cortland. 



C. B. HITCHCOCK'S BUGGY AND CUTTER WORKS. 

The building up of a business from $4,000 a year to $.500,000 a year in six years, 
is but seldom accomplished by one man, especially in the interior cities and towns of 
the East, and a brief biographical sketch of the gentleman here in Cortland who has 
accomplished it, will not, therefore, be inappropriate. C. B.Hitchcock was born in the 
village of Dryden, in Tompkins county, in 1840. When two years old his parents 
removed to Homer, and soon after he lost his father by death. He attended school 
in the village until he was thirteen years of age, when he went to Venice, Cayuga 
county, and worked on the farm of Mrs. Jesse Tillott for two years and a half. 
Returning to Homer he attended school a year, and then decided to learn the paint- 
ing trade. After working two years at house painting, he advanced to carriage 
painting, and for two or three years punted carriages for S. W. Cately, after which 
ho went to Cinciunatus, where he had secured a situation as a painter. He was then 
twenty-one years old, and having been frugal and fndustrious, with the savings from 
his earnings, soon purchased an interest in the carriage shop of Larrabee & Gee, a 
year later becoming sole proprietor. He only conducted this business one year, 
however, when he rented his shop and entered into the furniture and undertaking 
business, in which he continued until 1877, at one time being engaged in the paint- 
ing and finishing of sleighs, undertaking, the furniture trade, and conducting a 
livery. 

Naturally ambitious, he was not content with a small business ; Cortland 
was then beginning to feel the effecrts of the industries which had been established 
several years previously and he disposed of his business in Cincinnatus and removed 
to this village, with the intention of engaging in the buggy and cutter trade. In the 
spring of 1877 he began building cutters in the old Gee property on Port Watson 
street, and manufactured and sold that year 100 cutters. He then purchased the old 
church property at the corner of Elm street and the S. , B. & N. Y . Railroad, and 
turning the church into a factory produced, in 1878, 2,50 cutters and 100 buggies. 
Additions were built to the factory in 1871) and i>50 cutters and 200 buggies pro- 



PAST AND PRESENT. 



21) 



duced, and with each snccoedinp; year new buildings liavc been erected and the 
capacity and production doubled until tlie old church property, to which three other 
building lots have been added, is covered with great buildings- from two to five 
stories in height, in which from ir,0 to L'OO men are omi)]oyed, and from which 10,000 
cutters and '2,000 wagons will be ttirned out this year I 




1 



The works now comprise a wood working shop and engine house, COxlOO feet in 
dimensions; blacksmith shop, ;30xl20 feet; painting and stock building, 100x120 
feet ; a five story building, 40x330 feet, occupied by the repository, trimming and 
shipping departments (from the doors of which cars are loaded with stock) and 
several smaller buildings, all of which are arranged with the idea of facilitating the 
production of cutters and wagons, being fully equipped with the latest improve- 
ments in labor saving machinery, with a large engine furnishing the motive 
power. 

C, B. Hitchcock ha? become the largest manufacturer of cutters in the world, and 



30 ' PAST AND PEESENT. 

the business which in 1877 amounted to only $4,000, will for the year 188:5, amount 
to $500, 000. And the fact that he has accomplished this is in itself the best com- 
mentary ujiou Cortland's latter growth and prosperity. He is a typical self made 
man, his great success being due solely to his ability, push and enterprise, and does 
honor to the place he has adopted as his home. 



THE R. C. TILLINGHAST CARRIAGE AND CUTTER 

WORKS. 

StilU another instance of the almost phenomenal success which has attended the 
establishment of industrial enterprises in Cortland within the last few years, is 
found in these carriage and cutter works. In the latter part of 1881 a copartnership 
was formed between K. C. Tillinghast and F. A. Warner for the manufacture of 
carriages and cutters under the name of B. C. Tillinghast. Ground was broken for 
the main building on the first day of Januai-y, 1882, and the work of erecting the 
building proceeded with as rapidly as possible. In the meantime, a blacksmith shop 
was built, and Mr. Warner, who is a practical carriage maker, and knew that many 
wagons were built which, when put together, would not work satisfactorily, began 
experimenting on a carriage which he could rely upon. Having obtained one to 
suit him, manufacturing was commenced and their carriages soon appeared upon 
the market. In two or three months more room was required and an addition built 
to the works, and before the end of the year this was repeated several times. Their 
first years' busiuess resulted in the manufacture and sale of between 300 and 400 
carriages, and 1,000 cutters, and their second year opened up most auspiciouslj'. 
They are now manufacturing about twenty-five wagons a week, and will produce 
this year between GOO and 700 carriages, and about 1,200 cutters. The business 
which in 1882 amounted to about $50,000; will in aU probability be not less than 
$80,000 at the close of 1883, and their future business career is certainly filled with 
as bright promises. Their works are most favorably located on Owego street 
alongside of the U. I. & E. Eailroad, just west of the depot, and comprise the main 
building, 40x80 feet in dimensions, three stories ; blacksmith shop, 20xfiO feet ; a 
building 20x200 feet in dimensions for storage purposes, and another, 20xriO feet, 
for setting up work. Two more frame buildings, each two stories in height, and 
twenty feet wide and fifty feet in length, will have been erected and a siding from 
the U. I. & E. Ilailroad, (enabling them to ship from their doors) constructed before 
these pages have gone to press. A reputation is being acquired for the good quality 
as well as the cheapness of the carriages and cutters manufactured, and with the 
prestige they have already gained and the work they are producing they will un- 
doubtedly move to the front in this industry. Mr. Tillinghast ably represents the 
factory "on the road," and is makiug for it many friends and customers. Mr. 
Warner is not only a practical carriage maker, but a gentleman possessing business 
ability of a high order, which has been demonstrated by the successful manner in 
which he has conducted this enterprise from its inception. He was formerly super- 
intendent of C. B. Hitchcock's buggy and cutter factory, and later assistant superin- 
tendent of the Cortland Wagon Company's extensive works, and possesses a thorough 
knowledge of wagon and cutter building. And having decided that quality as well 
as quantity shall mark the factory in which he is interested, the prediction is ven- 
tured that but few years will have passed before it ranks with the largest of Cort, 
laud's celebrated factories. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 31 

CORTLAND OMNIBUS COMPANY. 

The buildiug of oiuuibuscs is ouo of the newer industries in Cortland, but like 
the others it is niakiug itself at home, and brings considerable money into the vil- 
lage. The Cortland Omnibus Company are the successors of W. T. Smith & Co., of 
Homer, and began operations in the buildings formerly occupied by the Cortland 
Horse Nail Co., in Dccembor. 18SI. The business has been very prosperous and is 
steadily increasing. Between seventy-five and one hundred omnibuses, ranging in 
price from i|8(iO to .f jIOO each, will be produced this year. These works, situated 
■along side the U. I. &■ E. Railroad, a few steps west of the depot, consist of two 
large buildings forming a H, the main building being one hundred feet long and 
fifty feet wide, and the west building, forty by ninety-four feet in dimensions, with 
a large engine and boiler house and a dry house adjoining. Sixteen of the most 
HkillfuU mechanics to be obtained are employed here, under the superintendence of 
Mr. W. T. Smith. Six different styles of omnibuses are made which is claimed to 
be more than any other cstablishnieut in the United States produces, as they are 
also claimed to be the lightest and .strongest. As an onmibus manufacturer, Mr. W. 
T. Smith, the superintendent of these works, has made a reputation which extends 
far and wide. He began business as a carriage builder in Homer with his father in 
18r>0, and in 18(i7 went into business there himself, eight years ago building his first 
omnibus for the Dexter House in Cortland. It brought him in several orders, which 
in turn brought in others, and he was soon compelled to abandon carriage building 
and devote his sole attention to the manufacture of omnibuses. He built the first 
light omnibus ever made in this country, and lightness with strength, are the char- 
acteristics of the vehicles produced by him, and that have given them their popu- 
larity. Inducements being offered him to come to Cortland, he rented his Homer 
establishment, and in December, 1881, formed a co-partnership with the Cortland 
Wagon Company, under the title of the Cortland Omnibus Company. In March, 
1882, a stock company was formed, which took control of the works, with Mr. Smith 
as superintendent, and now conducts the business. Under the management of Mr. 
Smith the Cortland Omnibus Comijany will undoubtedly continue to prosper and 
add largely to the industrial reputation of the village. 



THE CORTLAND MACHINE COMPANY. 

One of the oldest industrial establishments in the village, the works of the Cort- 
land Machine Company are known to nearly every resident of Cortland county, and 
although its growth has been rather slow, as compared with those of more recent i 

origin, it has been steady and sure, and now gives promise of being more rapid and 'j 

keeping pace with the advancement making by the town. The works were estab- . 

lished in 1832, by Daniel Lamed, and were conducted by Anthony and S. D. Freer, ' 

from 1837 until IBGO, (then changing hands several times before coming into 
the possession of the present proprietors in 1875), and for years were devoted to manu- 
facturing and repairing agricultural implements. About nine years ago the Victor 
Mowing Machine was first produced at these works, and gave to them quite an 
extensive reputation. In 1875 a stock company was formed and incorporated as the 
Cortland Machine Company. Under their control the works were enlarged, and 
began what is proving a successful career. Two years ago they commenced manu- 
facturing a line of wood-working machinery, which proved a decidedly profitable 
venture, as they found a demand for all the machines they could produce, and have 
since been running steadily on orders. Those machines include Royce's improved 
autoinatic hollow chisel mortice machine (the only machine ma4e having the auto- 



32 PAST AND PRESENT 

matic feed attachment, which is under complete control of the operator), and other 
special tools and machines for wagon and cutter makers. Wagon factories in Cort- 
land, Syracuse, Watertown and Homer, in this State; the Columbus Buggy Company, 
Columbus, Ohio ; the Racine Wagon Company, Racine, Wisconsin; and others have 
been supplied with machinery, which gives the most universal satisfaction. While 
devoting considerable attention to this line of machinery, the Victor Mowing Machines 
and other agricultural implements have not been neglected. Last year a car-load 
of the Victors was made up aad sent to California, where they met with such 
favor that a company was immediately formed at Oakland to build them. The 
works of the Judson Manufacturing Company, of Oakland, California (the general 
luanager of which owns a large interest in the Cortland Machine Company), now 
cover several acres of ground, and in less than a year have prnduced more than one 
thousand Victor Mowing Machines. And not to be outdone, there are good pros- 
pects of ^the Cortland Machine Company increasing their working force, and also 
producing one thousand Victors for next year'% trade. Their works are well 
equipped, and there is no good reason why their business should not double itself 
with each succeeding year. The main building, at Nos. li, 16 and 18 Port Watson 
street, is a three story brick structure, 110x57 feet in dimensions, occupied by the 
storage and salesrooms and the office. In the re.ar are the foundry, machine shop 
and the wood- working shops, all well supphed with tools and conveniently arranged, 
with a sixty-horse power Buckeye engine for driving the machinery. The working 
force at present consists of thirty men, nearly a'l skilh'd mechanics. The officers of 
the Cortland Machine Company are C. S. Chamberlain, President ; A. T. Dickinson, 
Vice President; S. B. Elwell, Secretary and Treasurer, and J. C. Yager, General 
Manager. These gentlemen are among the mo.st enterprising citizens of Cortland, 
and as they are not content with standing still, there is every reason to believe their 
works will be again enlarged and the working force and capacity increased within 
a year. 



CORTLAND BOX LOOP COMPANY. 

This company, which was started a little more than a year ago, are man fac luring 
a pressed leather loop used on harness and carriages. It is an enterprise requiring 
a great amount of time to fully develop, but it is progressing in the most prosperous 
manner. They are at present making a specialty of a carriage loop with patent 
metallic fastener of their own invention, which they are furnishing to the largest 
manufacturers of fine carriages in the United States. The Cortland buckle loop, 
although a new article, is widely and favorably known in the carriage trade as easy 
and quick to adjust, giving a very neat tiuish to the carriage top. This company is 
the only concern which manufactures a leather carriage loop, buckles and attach- 
ments complete. Of their harness loops it can be said that they are acknowledged 
to be perfect in every particular, and with such work as they are turning out, they 
must very soon be the leaders in their line of industry. Manufacturers would accord- 
ingly find it greatly to their advantage to correspond with them before buying. 
The gentlemen composing the company, Messrs. E. H. Brewer and C. W. Stoker, 
are both young, enterprising and possessed of the ability and capital to push the 
enterprise to the farthest limits of success. Mr. Brewer is known as the largest 
harness manufacturer in this section of the country, and Mr. Stoker as one of the 
most successful young tradesmen ever engaged in business in Cortland, and the 
future of the industry is therefore very promising. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 33 

LEWIS S. HAYES' CHAIR FACTORY. 

Among the manufactories which have been put in operation in the southern part 
of the village within the past few years, is the patent folding chair factory of Mr. 
Lewis S. Hayes, near the corner of South Main street and South avenue. He 
erected a building here in July, 1S79, and began manufacturing folding .chairs by 
steam power — and this was the origin of the cheap folding chairs which have be- 
come so jjopular with dealers. In three years his business has increased eight fold, and 
to-day he jirobably produces more folding chairs than any other three concerns in 
the world. Three large and well arranged buildings are now occupied, railroad 
tracks running right to his doors and enabling him to unload or load cars without 
extra handling, and car load lots of chairs are shipped to all parts of the United 
States, four or five cars being loaded for California when the works were visited re- 
cently by the writer. The idea of manufacturing folding chairs as a specialty having 
been conceived by Mr. Hayes, he. immediately put it into execution in a systematic 
maun( r, utilizing special machinery to its utmost limit=i, and the result has been one 
of thow pheaoiuanally successful b isinesscareei-s that causes the visitor to Cortland 
so much surprise. 



HENRY F. BENTON'S PLANING MILLS. 

As a manufacturer of doors, sash, blinds, etc., and dealer in lumber, Henry F. 
Benton is well known throughout this and surrounding counties. He established 
his business at the corner of Raih-oad street and the S., B. ct N. Y. Railroad, in 
18*i6, dealing in lumber, and in the Fall of 1877 put in operation a small planing 
mill. Unbroken success attended him iiutil 1878, when his planing mill was de- 
stroyed by fire. Undaunted by this disaster, work was immediately commenced on 
a new and larger building, and in thirty-five days from the date of the fire steam 
was gotten up and the machinerj'^ of the new mill running. This energy seems to 
have characterized his whole business career, and the result is seen in the large busi- 
ness of which he is to-day the possessor, it having almost quadrupled since it was 
established in 186(i. Three acres of ground lying alongside the railroad, and ex- 
tending from Railroad street to Port Watson street, are occupied, and about an acre 
of this land is under cover. He handles from three and a half to four million feet of 
lumber and a couple of million shingles a year, besides manufacturing large quanti- 
ties of doors, sash, blinds, etc. Exceptionally fine facilities are possessed by him 
for conducting this business, a side track capable of receiving twelve cars extending 
into his yards, over which the cars of the S., B. & N. Y. and U., I. & E. Railroads 
are run. The office ftonts on Railroad street, and storage buildings extend thence 
clear back to East Court street. Just opposite, and fronting on East Court street, 
is the planing mill, a two-story building, SiixllO feet in dimensions, to which an- 
other building, 26x40 feet, has recently been added. Thirty workmen are employed 
in the planing mill, which is thoroughly equipped with all the labor-saving machinery, 
driven by a sixty-horse power engine. The balance of the lot on which the planing 
mill stands, extending back to Port Watson street, is devoted to the storage of 
lumber. The trade is principally local, and has been confined to a circuit of about 
twenty miles, but is extending farther and farther every year. Last year's business 
showed au increase of fifty per cent, over that of the preceding year, and the first 
six months of 188.S has been still greater, with the probabilities of amounting for 
the year to $100,000. This is probably due to the great increase of building in the 
village the past couple of years. Mr. Benton is a good representative of the class 
of live, enterprising business men who will sustain Cortland in the rapid progress 
it is making. 



34 PAST AND PRESENT. 

THE CORTLAND MILLS. 
One of the old laad-marks, the Cortland Mills for eighty years has withstood the 
test of time, and ground its share of "grists " for the farmers of the vicinity. Bvit 
what changes it has witnessed in these eighty year.s ! When the mill was built, in 
1802-3, by Jonathan Hubbard (whose son, Jonathan, now an old gentleman, resides 
on Tompkins street), all the land in the neighborhood was nothing but a wilderness. 
Under the terms of the contract by which he secured the land he was required to 
erect a dwelling upon it within two years. Trees were cut down and a space cleared 
for the-foundatiou. A mill was built, and to a room partitioned off from one corner 
on the second floor he brought his young wife to dwell, and thus complied with the 
stipulations in the contract. And here they began housekeeping and grinding the 
" grists" the farmers brought from long distances, and here in this room their first 
child, a daughter, was born to them. It was the second f^ill built in the county, 
and was painted red, then aud for manj' years being known as Hubbard's red mill, 
or the " old red mill." Jonathan Hubbard died in December, 1814, and the mill 
was kept in the estate until the two children attained their majority, when by the 
division it feU ito the daughter, who was born in the mill. About 1824 it was sold 
to Horace White, and has since passed through many hands. For a time it was 
occupied aud run by Asa White, his father. It was then sold to the firm of Bennett 
& Gillett, who were succeeded by Gillett & Gillett. Abi-am Mudgo run it a number 
of years and sold it to his his son, Ebenezer Mudge, who sold it to Carr & Moses. 
Daniel Rose was the next purchaser, the mill coming into the possession of the 
pi-esent proprietoi", Thomas F. Brayton, in 1873. The old red mill, which stood all 
alone in the wilderness, now stands near the foot of a tine street lined with neat 
dwellings, with the hum of the machinery of a busy factory employing a score of 
workmen to keep the whir-r of its own wheels company, while the shriek of the 
locomotive and the rumbling of heavily laden trains of cars drawn over steel tracks 
but a short distance both east and west of it is heard at frequent intervals. And the 
old mill itself, with such additions and improvements as to have been almost entirely 
rebuilt — rechristened and repainted — has undergone such changes as to be almost 
unrecognizable. Mr. Brayton has lately added the machinery for making the Hun- 
garian roller process flour, and has turned it into a first-class flouring mill. The 
building is now a two-story frame structure, .54x30x25x28 feet in dimensions, with 
one run of stone for custom work, doing seventy-five bushels of wheat and two 
hundred bushels of feed per day, and the Hungarian roller mills having a capacity 
for producing seventy-five barrels of a superior flour each day. A fine water 
power is supplied by the Tioughnioga river. The new proce^ has proved a decided 
buccess, and Mr. Brayton is securing a large business, that is still increasing very 
rapidly. 



TIOUGHNIOGIAN POTTERY, 

In 1829, when Cortland contained only about 400 inhabitant'^, a small building 
was erected near Otter creek(then a quarter of a mile out of the village) by Sylvester 
Blair, for a pottery. Clay was brought from Amboy, N. J., to Syracuse by boats, 
drawn on wagons to this village, made into pots and shipped in arks down the 
Tioughnioga River or peddled throughout the country. It was the only pottery in 
this section of the country, and Blair emjiloyed but two workmen aud done a busi- 
ness amounting to about $10,000 a year — then no inconsiderable sum of money. He 
continued in the business until 1835, when he sold to Mason & Russell, by whom it 
was conducted on about the same scale for a few years, Chollar <fc Darby purchased 



PAST AND PRESENT. 35 

the businefis iu lS:$f), aud during the next ten yeiirs incroasod it about one-fourth, or 
to $12,500 a year. In 184'.t they sold to Madison Woodruff, who for eighteen years 
had worked as a journeyman in the pottery, and under his management the busi- 
ness increased until it amounted to $ir.,()()() a year. He built new and larger pottery 
buildings, (now numbered !).'') Grotou avenue) iu IH.'iS, aud for six or eight years 
done a good business, but did not attempt to increase it any more. Of late years he 
has not felt inclined to give the business much attention aud it has consequently 
diminished to a comparatively small proportion of the sum it amounted to iu 1 8 ")H, 
but in the hands of a couple enterprising young men could be made a large and 
profitable business. Mr. Woodruff is now an old gentleman nearly seventy-five 
years of age, and not desiring to be troubled with the cares of business, would sell 
the pottery at much less than its value. The main building is a two story brick 
structure, 30x00 feet in dimensions, the kiln has a capacity for burning about $300 
woi-th of ware, and there is a two story frame storage building, 82x42 feet in dimen- 
sions, with about an acre and a half of ground on which are also good wood sheds. 
The facilities for manufacturing ware are very good, and with the superior shipping 
facilities and other advantages now offered by Cortland affords a splendid oppor- 
tunity for one or more young potters, or business men with little capital, but 
sufficient enterprise to look abroad for trade, to do a business of $2.5,000 or $.50,000 
a year. For fifty years has Mr. Woodruff' lived in Cortland and watched its growth 
from a village of 400 or .500 inhabitants to a thriving, prosperous, manufacturing 
town with a population of over 6,000 ! He now lives comfortably on a little farm 
near the pottery, passing away the time during the summer overseeing the tilling of 
his twenty-five acres of land ; during the winter turning a wheel, and with skillful 
hand forming pot after pot in his pottery, probably thinking of the time when he 
turned this wheel as a journeyman for his daily bread instead of amusement, as now, 
and thus enjoying the easy, peaceful, and contented life he has earned, and to 
which he is so fully entitled. 



I. H. HOLCOMB'S CIGAR FACTORY. 

That " a prophet (or manufacturer) is without honor in his own country" cannot 
be applied to Cortland. An illustration of this is furnished by the business of I. H. 
Holcomb, the cigar manufacturer, whose product is entirely consumed iu this village. 
Mr. Holcomb began manufacturing cigars on Cortland street, in 1873, with but one 
man in his employ. Iu a year his business had increased to such an extent that he 
was compelled to secure larger quarters, aud removed to No. .5 Mill street. Here he 
now employs five good workmen, and manufactured and sold last year 200,000 
cigars. This year his business will amount to fully $10,000, and he has erected a 
new And larger factory at No. 53 Grotou avenue, into which he will move before the 
close of the year. In this new factory he will have room for twenty workmen, and 
there does not appear to be any doubt but that the demand for his goods will call 
for this large increase in his working force. He manufactures seed and Havana 
c igars, and as previously stated his entire product is consumed in Cortland. He 
makes a specialty of manufacturing private brands for dealers, and is now making 
thirty-nine different brands for dealers here. The " I. H. H.," a ten-cent cigar, is 
one of the most popular sold, but all his goods give the most complete satisfaction, 
and probably his best recommendation is the fact that he is not compelled to go 
away from home for patrons. In his ten years' residence here Mr. Holcomb has 
proven an enterprising and desirable citizen, aud one for whom all would wish con- 
tinued prosperity. 



36 PAST AND PKESENT. 

COOPER BROS.' FOUNDRY AND MACHINE SHOPS. 

The buildings now occupied by the Cooper Bros.' foundry and machine shops 
have not a little interest attached to them, both by reason of their age and the vicisi- 
tudes of their occupants. These buildings, on the west bank of the Tioughnioga, 
just a short distance below the confluence of the east and west branches of this 
river, were erected about 1823 by Nelson Spencer for a paper mill. The water 
privilege was (and still is) an excellent one, and the pure, clear water weU adapted 
for the manufacture of paper. Spencer erected large buildings with the purpose of 
engaging extensively in the business, but although the production would now be 
considered small — "the machinery being of the most primitive kind, and the paper 
being largely made by hand, the pulp dipped from a vat in a sieve-Uke frame, form- 
ing the sheet by gently shaking " — the demand at that time was not equal to the 
production, and after a few years he suspended operations. One informant states 
that only coarse paper was manufactured, while another says he produced very fine 
paper, and also conducted the largest bindery then in the interior of New York. 
However that may be, Spencer failed to make a success, and the mill lay idle several 
years. In 1832 or 1833 Speed & Sinclair took possession of the mill, refitting it 
throughout and putting in considerable machinery. ' ' They made fine paper a 
specialty, and their goods stood foremost in the market," but upon the death of Mr. 
Sinclair, in 1841, it appears that the business passed into other hands, being con- 
ducted for some time by the firm of Smith & Duff, and later by Asa Wilcox. About 
1847 Daniel Bradford became its proprietor and continued the business until 1864, 
or thereabouts, when the buildings were purchased by the firm of Sears, Freer & 
Cottrell (Francis Sears, S. D. Freer, John B. Cottrell), and converted into an oil mill, 
flax-seed oil being manufactured. This partnership was dissolved in 1 866 and the 
business conducted by Freer alone until 1871, when he also gave it up, and for some 
time again the mill lay idle. John B. Cottrell then occupied the buildings for a 
brief period, and in July of 1881 sold the property to the Cooper Brothers, the 
present proprietors. Some fatality seems to have hung about these buildings, for 
none of the people through whose hands they have passed ever made a success 
there, and a few ruined both their health and their fortunes in the attempt. But 
this fataUty (if it did exist) must have been removed, for the Cooper Brothers, who 
converted the building into a foundry and machine shop, are certainly meeting with 
success. Soon after purchasing the property they placed in the building a few tools 
and began work themselves, doing repairing and job work. Gradually increasing 
their stock of tools and extending the scope of their business as was demanded, they 
were last year warranted in building a new foundry, with a capacity for melting and 
casting two tons of iron per day, and following out this policy of progression, they 
to-day possess an excellent equipment of tools for manufacturing machinery of 
various kinds and doing all special work in their line, and give employment to a 
number of workmen. The main building is 40x80 feet in dimensions and the foundry 
36x60 feet, and they have a cheap and adequate (even for a much larger estabhsh- 
ment) motive power in the Tioughnioga river. Lately they have been producing 
considerable machinery for roller mills, tread powers and shafting, wheels, pvdleys, 
etc. , and the prospects are decidedly favorable both for a larger increase in orders 
and the erection and equipment of a new machine shop, when the old building will 
be used for storage purposes. The Cooper Brothers are imbued with a spirit of 
enterprise that, combined with their sound financial standing, must and will un- 
doubtedly win for them a successful career in this field, and it is confidently pre- 
dicted that they will yet carve out for themselves a name as being the foremost 
among Cortland's prosperous manufacturers. 



PAST AND PllESENT. (3? 

Horace disble's wool carding mill. 

Just aroimd the bend of North Main street, and across Otter creek, a little old 
wooden building, half covered with ivy and with moss-grown roof, attracts the at- 
tention of every passer-by. A sign over the door reads: 



CARPETS. BLANKETS, 

&C., WASHEP. 

CARDING AND DYEING. 



A young wool carder and cloth dresser in search of work, Horace Dibble came 
through Cortland in 1821 on foot. He passed the night at David Merrick's hotel, 
then standing on the site of the Barber block, (and which still stands there, although 
the old building has been built around, about and overhead until it is no longer dis- 
cernible), and in the morning started out on his walk through Homer and on until / 
he should find employment. «» Passing by this building he was impressed with its 
desirable location, and vowed that did he ever possess suflScient money he would 
become the possessor of the spot. Upon making inquiries he learned that the 
building, in the rear of which stood a saw mill, had been erected by a man named 
McClure five or six years previously . It was occupied as a nail factory by William 
Sherman, who had invented a machine into which the iron was fed and nails were 
automatically cut, headed and stamped with the letters W and S. A portion of the 
water of Otter creek was diverted from its course and forced to turn the wheel driv- 
ing the saw and the nail machine before again mingling with the waters that had 
passed. The young wool carder walked on, thinking of the time when he hoped to 
own this, the most desirable location for his business he had ever seen, and card 
wool for himself — no longer doing so in the employ of others. 

To-day a silver-haired old gentleman sits in this old building, rising every few 
minutes to place an armful of wool in an old carding machine — a picture of content- 
ment, of one who has apparently solved the problem of life and finds life worth the 
living. Horace Dibble's young hopes and wishes have been fulfilled, and he owns 
the place for which he longed so many years ago. 

The nail machine was removed about 1824, and Martin Merrick placed a carding 
machine in the building and carried on the business of wool carding and cloth dress- 
ing for a niimber of years. Off in another county Horace Dibble was carding wool 
and learning that Merrick was offering the mill for sale, in 1833 came here and 
purchased it. And here he has remained for fifty years, carding wool on the same 
machine, which is thought to have been built in Little York years before it came 
into Martin Merrick's possession, and has consequently served in the business nearly 
as many years as its possessor, but is still just as strong and just as serviceable as the 
hale and hearty old gentleman, despite his years, who feeds into it the wool it pre- 
pares. 

With the exception of the saw mill, which has disappeared, and the sign over the 
door, the building is the same as it was fifty years ago, but the small willow sprouts 
that Mr. Dibble planted, between the years 1847 and 1852, along the road on both 
sides the pretty httle brook, have grown into the fourteen great willow trees of im- 
mense girth, which now cast such a grateful shade over this portion of a popular 
drive. And although the progress characterizing the village has not here been 
shown, the "old wool carding mill" is one of the landmarks that would sorely be 
missed, as would also the pleasant and smiling countenance of the proprietor, and it 
is therefore, probably better as it is. 



38 PAST AND PEESENT. 

• ORR & CROSLEYS OVERALL FACTORY. 

The latest enterprise, and one giving promise of the same brilliant success that 
has marked those already noted, is the overall manufactory of Orr & Crosleys, on 
the Homer road. It was started about the middle of April, in a small building only 
large enough for the operation of ten sewing machines. This was a temporary 
arrangement, however, and was abandoned upon the completion of their large new 
two story factory iu May, in which fifty machines are now running. Orr & 
Crosleys pantaloon overalls, sack coats, engineers jackets, flannel suits and shirts are 
manufactured, and although estabUshed but a few months, large orders have already 
been received for them from New York, Philadelphia, Rochester, Syracuse and other 
places, while the samples are meeting with decided favor throughout the East and 
the South. They start under the most auspicious circumstances; their factory has been 
built with an idea to the comfort of their work people, with very high ceilings and 
and an unusual number of windows, insuring an abundance of light and pure, fresh 
air, and consequently good work by good operators ; the factory is equipped with 
the new Singer (oscillatory shuttle) sewing machines, driven by a steam engine of 
adequate power ; they have an abundance of capital and buy stock iu large quanti- 
ties for cash, and finally, the head of the firm has had a lifetime's experience in the 
business, and was for many years the general superintendent of the old established 
and well known overall factories of Sweet, Orr & Co. , at Wappingers Falls and 
Newburgh, N. Y. , his father being a member of that firm. Orr & Crosleys will 
make a reputation for the quality and workmanship of their goods, warranting all 
work not to rip, and have adopted a plan which must result in success, all work 
being manufactured under the personal supervision of Mr. Orr, and thoroughly in- 
spected three times before being permitted to leave the factory. The members of 
the firm are Charles H. Orr, E. D. Crosley, M. H. Crosley, and F. A. Crosley. Of 
Mr. Orr it is said that he ranks as one of the best cutters and draughtsmen engaged 
in this business, a statement warranted by his previous connection with Sweet, Orr 
& Co.'s factories ; the Messrs. Crosleys, father and sons, are known as large and in- 
fluential farmers from Scott, in the northern part of this county, Mr. E. D. Crosley 
also having been (and still is) a practicing lawyer for many years in the Federal and 
State Courts, and possessing a wide reputation for his ability ; and combining their 
capital with Mr. Orr's experience, and all devoting their sole attention to the busi- 
ness, there can be no doubt of their success or the benefit that Cortland will derive 
from an industry that will give employment to a large number of people and add 
largely to its wealth and industrial reputation. 



CORTLAND MACHINE COOPERAGE. 

Situated at the corner of Mill and East River streets, the Cortland Machine Cooper- 
age is probably seen by but few of Cortland's visitors, and there are doubtless many 
of its citizens even who are unaware of the extent of this business, which adds not a 
little to the prosperity of the village. The barrels, firkins, tubs, pails, etc., manu- 
factured here are in demand throughout a large area of ten-itory, extending as far 
West as Iowa. From fifteen to twenty men are given steady employment, and the 
value of the industry to the village is considerable. The works were built about 
twelve years ago by Charles W. Kinne, who with L. J. Fitzgerald afterwards started 
the Cortland Wagon Company on the road to prosperity. Mr. Kinne was succeeded 
by Todd & Wallace, and they by Todd & Dolphin. The latter firm dissolved part- 
nership and John G. Dolphin then continued the business for some three or four 
years himself. On the first of January, 1880, the establishment was purchased by 



PAST AND PRESENT. 30 

Thomas F. Brayton and has since been continued by Robert Nixon, the present 
proprietor, who has probably made the greatest success of it, and has secured a 
prosperous business. A three story and basement frame building, aOxGO feet in 
dimensous, is occupied by the manufacturing departments, and another building 
I'tx'M) feet for storages purposes. The main building contains a very full and 
complete equipment of cooperage machinery, the motive power being supplied by 
the waters of the Tioughnioga river, and a thirty horse power stationary engine. 
The works have capacity for producing from 60 to 100 barrels, or 100 to 150 tirkins 
per day, and a large number of tubs, pails, etc. Under Mr. Nixon's management 
the business is steadily increasing, and to such an extent that more room for manu- 
facturing purposes is necessary if it is desired to accejit all orders that are being 
received. Mr. Nixon is a Scotchman by birth, and came from Glasgow, Scotland, 
at the solicitation of friends here, to engage in this business, and his success is 
therefore peculiarly gratifying. 



BANGS BROTHERS' CHAIR FACTORY. 

The chair manufactory of the Bangs Brothers, on Oak street, near tlie K. M. 
Tillinghast carriage works, is running steadily on a fine class of novelty chairs, 
stands, paper holders, etc., and giv. ug employment to from ten to twenty men. The 
business was established in 1877, when it was conducted by the Cortland Furniture 
Manufacturing Company. Mr. A. H. Day succeeded this company, in 187!), and 
carried it on alone until 1881, when he formed a co-partnership with Elmer Bangs. 
The buildings now occupied by the present proprietors were erected by the firm of 
Day & Bangs, in 1881, and they conducted the business until July, 1882, when Mr. 
Day's interest was purchased by Mr. F. E. Bangs, and under the title of Bangs 
Brothers it has since been continued with considerable guccess. The Bangs Brothers 
manufacture two hundred of the cheaper grade folding chairs or one hundr< d tine 
chairs per day, and have a good demand for their products. Two buildings, each 
30xG0 feet in dimensions and two stories high, are occupied for manufacturing and 
storage purposes, and are well equipped with machinery, a twenty-horse power 
engine furnishing the motive power. Last year's business was exceptionally large, 
and the prospects of a steady business are reported as being very favorable. 



OTHER MANUFACTURERS. 

While the foregoing sketches will give an idea of the extent and diversity of the 
manufacturing interests of the village, they by no means comprise the entire list, 
which it is impossible to review within the limits of this work. Among the more 
prominent establishments not neted however, are the O'Neill Wagon Works, 1 )ay & At- 
wood's Shirt Manufactory, the Cortland Steam Mills, John Ireland's Planing Mills,and 
Tisdale's Flouring Mills, besides many other lesser industries, whi(;h swell the aggre- 
gate number of employes and the amount of wages paid monthly to large propor- 
tions. Work is also progressing rajiidly on the buildings for a new industry with 
the title of the Sanford Fork and Tool Manufacturing Company, of which Mr. 
Robert Nixon, who has so successfully conducted the Cortland Machine fcooperage, 
is President ; Mr. E. O. Rickard (for five yeai's one of the most valued employes of 
the National Bank of Cortland), Secretai-y and Treasurer,and Mr. DeForest Sanford, 
(son of the originator of the celebrated Sanford pitch fork, which will be the 
specialty), Superintendent. The works of the company on Elm street, east of the 



40 PAST AND PKESEKT. 

U., I. & £. Railroad, will comprise a main building, three stories, 50x32 feet in di- 
mensions, and a building adjoining for manufacturing pui-poses, 40x100 feet, with 
i complete equipment of machinery, driven by a sixty horse power engine. It is 
understood that about 100 workmen will be given employment, and that the com- 
pany will produce about 10,000 dozen forks during their first year. Besides the 
regular Sanford fork, which was originated forty years ago by Mr. B. Sanford, father 
of the Superintendent, and is known to all dealers in farm tools as the best hand 
fork in the market, they will also manufacture all kinds of tined steel tools. The 
company starts under the most favorable auspices and will undoubtedly meet with 
the same flattering success that characterizes Cortland's industries in general. Other 
manufacturing establishments are in prospective, with every indication of soon 
assuming full shape, and the outlook is more than promising f orj the village 
becoming a city, as well as a manufacturing centre of great importance. 




PART III. 



ITS COMMERCIAL INTERESTS. 




BANKING. 

OETLAND is in the most highly prosperous condition, and three National 
Banks and a Savings Bank, with other business concerns in proportion, 
testify to the thrift and activity of the place. The Savings Bank has 
nearly $500,000 on deposit (an average of $200 to the credit of each 
depositor), and the four banks show deposits aggregating more than a 
million dollars, while the statements of each indicate a healthy state that is more than 
gratifying. 

The First National Bank of Cortland was incorporated under the national law in 
18C3, and was organized in February, 1864, with the following directors, the capital 
stock being $125,000: Thomas Keator, President; Garry Chambers, Arthur 
Holmes, Kufus Edwards, James S. Squires, Lansing Carley, Nathan Boutou, Dan. 
C. Squires and Leander Fitts. Thomas Keator, the organizer of the bank, died 
June 25, 1879, and was succeeded by S. Keator as President. The career of the 
bank has been a flattering one, and a continuation of the charter for another twenty 
years was applied for and granted February 24, 1883, when it was reorganized with 
the same Board of Directors then (and still) in office, viz. : Samuel Keator, Presi- 
dent ; E. Keator, Cashier ; Matthew Van Hoosen, Ransom Warren, Hector Cowen, 
Hon. O. U. Kellogg, Hon. A. A. Carley, E. C. Carley, T. H. Wickwire, C. W. 
Stoker, John B. Hart, R. B. Smith and Robert Purvis. The bank has declared 
dividends of from ten to twelve per cent. , free of taxes, every year, and the state- 
ment of July 23, 1883, shows a capital stock of $125,000; value of real estate, 
$16,000; surplus and undivided profits. $!)5,000; deposits, $190,370. 

The National Bank of Cortland was organized March 1, 1869, as the Bank of 
Cortland, with a capital stock of $100,090 and the following Board of Directors: 
James S. Squires, President ; Wm. H. Shanklain, James A. Schermerhorn, H. P. 
Goodrich, Horatio Ballard, B. B. Woodworth (Cashier), F. H. Hubbard, S. E. 



42 PAST AND PRESENT. 

Welch, Samuel Sager, C. C. Taylor, Luoius Babcock, Jerome Hulbert, J. C. 
Pomeroy, S. R. Hunter, A. B. Lamout and George L. Cole. It continued as the 
Bank of Cortland until the first day of January, IST.'J, when it was chartered as the 
National Bank of Cortland, with a capital of |;100,000, and the following Board of 
Directors: James S. Squires, President; George L. Cole, Wm. H. Shanklain, Ed. 
M. Hulbert, Hamilton Putnam, A. B. Lamout, Byron A. Benedict, Wesley Hooker, 
John J. Sampson, Nathan Spencer, Samuel Sager and Stephen R. Hunter. The 
President, James S. Squires, has been a resident of Cortland for the past thirty 
years, having been engaged in trade previous to the organization of this bank, of 
which he then became President, and has held the position during the fourteen 
years of its existence. There are associated with him as directors, at the present time, 
George L. Cole, the Vice-President ; Charles L. Selover, the Cashier, and Nathan 
Spencer, Wesley Hooker, C, W. Collins, B. A. Benedict, L. J. Fitzgerald, Hamilton 
Putnam, C. H. Parker, Wm. H. Clark, Robert Bushby, F. C. Stratt and Nathan P. 
Darby. The statement of July 23, 1883, shows a capital stock of $100,000; value of 
real estate, $14,000; surplus, $27,G87.(;0; deposits, $280,685.04. 

The Second National Bank of Cortland was organized the 25th day of November, 
1882, with a capital of $100,000, and the following directors: D. S. Bull, Cashier; 
J. S. Bull, Pitz Boyntou, L. J. Fitzgerald, George C. Hubbard, J. R. Schermerhorn, 
George N. Bliss, Harrison Wells, John D. Schermerhorn, M. H. McGraw, D. F. 
Wallace, E. A. Fish, H. F. Benton, M. S. Pierce and W. B. Stoppard. The bank 
is proving a very successful institution, and the statement of July 23, 1883, shows a 
capital stock of $100,000 , surplus (over and above dividend of three per cent, just 
declared), $1,487.-50; deposits, $94,000. 

The Cortland Savings Bank was organized April 13, 18G6, a charter being secured 
through the efforts of Hon. Stephen Patrick, of Truxton, and the original trustees 
were William R. Randall, President; Hiram J. Messenger, Thomas Keator, 
Jedediah Barber, George W. Bradford, Perrin H. McGraw, Henry Stephens, 
Frederick Hyde, Horatio Ballard, Henry S. Randall, R. Holland Duell, Hiram 
Crandall, Horace P. Goodrich, James W. Sturdevaut, Alphonzo Stone, Silas 
Blanchard, Raymond P. Babcock, Nathan Smith, Daniel E. Whitmore and Stephen 
Patrick. The bank was opened September 25, 1866, in a small room on the second 
floor of Randall's Bank, with Calvin P. Walrad as Secretary and Treasurer, and from 
this modest beginning its business gradually increased until it was necessary to 
secure the large room now occupied (formerly Randall's Bank), and the deposits 
amount to nearly $500,000. The trustees are now Frederick Hyde, President ; 
G. W. Bradford, R. Holland Duell, Henry Brewer, Horace P. Goodrich, Charles C. 
Taylor, Abram P. Smith, Calvin P. Walrad, James C. Carmichael, Morgan L. Webb, 
(Treasurer), Stephen Patrick, Madison Woodruff, Norman Chamberlain, Samuel E. 
Welch, Alphonzo Stone, George N. Copeland, Henry McKevitt, William H. Twiss 
and A. Leroy Cole, and the statement of the bank, made January 1, 1883, shows the 
assets to be $449,151.43; liabilities, $426,477.43; surplus, $22,674.80. 



MAGER & WALRAD. 

The dry goods and carpet store of Mager & Walrad, at No. 11 North Main street, 
is one of largest mercantile establishments in Cortland, and with its handsome, 
well-lighted storerooms, large and tastefully displayed stock, would do credit to 
many cities of much greater population. The history of the house dates back to 
1846, when it was established as a general store by J. W. Sturtevant & Co. (E. H. 
Dowd), in the storeroom now occupied by Dickinson &, McGraw. There the busi- 



PAST AND PRESENT. 43 

ness was conducted by this firm for more than twenty years, and was then the largest 
store in the county, where ahuost anything desired could be purchased. E, A. Fish 
was admitted to a partuershij} in the firm in ISGl, and the store was subseciuently 
removed to the room now occupied by a saloon at No. V.) North Main street. The 
general store system was abandoned about 18<;2-3, and in 18*;!) Mr. Dowd's interest 
was purchased by 0. P. Walrad, and the firm name changed to Sturtevaut, Fish & 
Co. Mr. Sturtevaut's interest was purchased by the junior members of the firm in 
1872, and Fish .t Walrad continued the business with much success, removing in 
187!) to the handsome now Schermerhora building. On the T.th day of March, 1883, 
Fish & Walrad sold the establishment to G. J. Mager, and the co-partnership of 
Mager & Walrad was formed almost immediately thereafter. There are doubtless 
many readers who will remember the old firms and the changes that have taken place, 
and will call to mind the contrast made between the present and former storeroom, 
and here find an illustration of the progress made by the village. Mager <t Walrad 
carry a fine stock of foreign and domestic dry goods, ready-made garments for ladies, 
and a complete line of carpets. Their dry goods storeroom is twenty -five feet in 
width and seventy -five feet in depth, while two large rooms oti the second floor are 
occupied by the carpet department. Much taste is displayed in the arrangement of 
the stock and the storerooms are very attractive, indicating an ( iiLerprise and appre- 
ciation of the wauls of this progressive era that will doubtless retain for Mager & 
Walrad the position they have secured. 



NEWKIRK & HUJLBERT. 

The business of Newkirk & Hulbert, wholesale and retail dealers in hardware, 
stoves and machinists' supplies, is an outgrowth of the foundry and machine shops 
established by Daniel Lamed in 1832, conducted by A. & S. D. Freer for many years, 
and now owned by the Cortland Machine Company. The Freers carried on the 
foundry and machine shop from 1837 until 18(51, when they sold to the firm of Cham- 
.berlain & Benson. In 18Gr> Benson's interest was purchased by H. C. Smith, and 
Chamberlain & Smith conducted the business until 1.S73, when they erected the 
three-story brick building at No. 14 Port Watson street, and engaged in the hardware 
trade. The business was divided in 1874, the stock company known as the Cortland 
Foundry and Machine Company taking the foundry and machine shops, and the 
Cortland Hardware Comj)auy succeeding to the hardware business. H. C. Smith 
then bought out the Cortland Hardware Company, and conducted the business for a 
time, and sold to C. F. Chamberlain, who was succeeded in turn by Floyd Chamber- 
lain. In a short time, however, C. F. Chamberlain again purchased the business, 
and forming a co-partnership with C. E. Huntington, under the title of C. F. Cham- 
berlain & Co., continued the business a year and thou organized the Chamberlain 
Manufacturing Company. In 1879 W. S. Newkirk and Ernest M. Hulbert, forming 
the firm of Newkirk & Hulbert, succeeded the Chamberlam Mauufacturing Com- 
pany, and under their management the business has nearly doubled in four 
years. Upon the completion of the new SUindard block last February, they re- 
moved into this handsome building, where they now occupy the four floors fitted up 
especially for their large business. Here they carry an unusually largo stock of 
hardware, stoves and machinists' supplies, and bid fair to become the most extensive 
dealers in these goods in Central New York. Both gentlemen are life-long residents 
of Cortland, but are putting a life into the business that has certainly not been a 
chief characteristic Ih the conduct of the mercantile business of the village pre- 
viously. 



44 PAST AND PRESENT. 



COBB & PERKINS. 



Although Bome very successful business careers have been noted in proceeding 
pages, there is still another, and, in comparison, equally successful one to 
chronicle. It is that of the Cortland Steam Bakery, which was established in a very 
small way at No. 12 Court street, by Eggleston & Cobb, in 1873, as a family bakery. 
From the start it was received with decided favor and in less than two years the business 
had increased to such an extent as to warrant the putting in of steam power, which 
was done in the spring of 187.'>. About this time Eggleston retired and the firm of 
Cobb &, Perkins was organized. The business was conducted with a spirit of enter- 
prise that could not fail to win success, and additions and improvements were made 
from time to time which increased the capacity and extended the business into 
wider fields. In January, 1S81, the confectionery business of L. D. Garrison was 
purchased and the manufacture of candy begun, and from that time the business 
was increased and extended still more rapidly, the storeroom No. 10^ Court street 
being secured for the retail department and other additions made, until they now 
occupy the entire two story building, 30 feet wide and 120 feet deep. This build- 
ing is fitted up in the most convenient manner and with all the improvements in 
machinery, etc. , for the manufacture of bread stuffs, crackei's and confectionery in 
large cpiantities, and their facilities are not surpassed bj' any concern in Central or 
Southern New York. As jobbers in fruits, oysters, cigars, etc., they also rank among 
the largest concerns in the interior, and their trade extends throughout the counties 
of Cortland, Broome, Chenango, Madison, Onondaga, Cayuga, Tompkins, Tioga, 
and the counties of Northern Pennsylvania. Their business last year amounted to 
twelve times as much as it did the first year, which amounted to no inconsiderable 
sum even, and contrary to all expectations the first six months of this year have 
shown a greater increase than that of last year. Mr. Cobb is a native of Homer, 
and Mr. Perkins of Virgil. They are both young men, and the fact that this is their 
first business venture adds not a little to the gratification felt at the success they 
have made. 



TANNER BROTHERS 
From the time of their first appearance in the village the Tanner Brothers have 
taken a prominent position among its business men, and have steadily grown in 
public esteem, increasing and extending their business until they occupied the lead- 
ing po-iition among its dry goods merchants. The brothers, Adolphus F. and Abram 
T. Tanner, came from Drydeu in March of 1864, and opened a dry goods and notions 
store in the Messenger House block. Here they remained until October, 1868, when 
they removed to the Moore block. Their busines steadily growing larger, when the 
new Garrison block was completed, in 1878, they secured the large north storerooms, 
which were finely fitted up for them, and then added a millinery and carpet and oil- 
cloth department. With one of the most spacious and elegant stores in the village, 
their trade still more largely increased, and they were fully rewarded for their enter- 
l^rise. Their dry goods, notions and millinery storeroom is twenty-three feet wide 
and ninety feet in depth, stocked with the finest goods in the market, and two large 
rooms on the second floor are occupied for the display of carpets and oil-cloths. 
Their business career has been one of unbroken prosperity, and when the death of 
Abram T. Tanner occurred, on the l!)th of June, 1883, Cortland lost one of its most 
highly respected and prosperous tradesmen. The business is continued by Adolphus 
F. Tanner under the title of the Tanner Brothers, and will undoubtedly retain the 
position it has gained and keep pace with the progress of the village. 



? 



PAST AND PRESENT. 45 

SMITH & KINGSBURY. 

The extensive hardware, stove and tinware biisiiieBs now conducted by Smith &, 
Kingsbury, at No. !'_* North Main street, was established in IS.'il) by E. D. Mallery, 
in the old brick building at the corner of Main street and Groton avenue. It was 
the second tin and hardware store in the village, and was started on a very small 
scale, the storeroom now occupied by C. TI. Gayli>rd'K grocery being devoted to the 
sale of hardware, aud having a small tin shop in the rear. So(m after the business 
•was established, aid during the same year (18.")D), Mallery sold to the firm of Mills 
& Goodrich, who carried on the business four years, in 1868 or 18(U securing the 
frame building then standing on the corner of Main aud Court streets (and which 
had been occupied many j^ears as a female semiunry), and I'emoving it to the present 
site turned it into a hardware storeand tin shop. Mr. Goodrich theu retired from the 
firm, and Myron H. Mills continued as sole proprietor for two years, when he sold 
an interest to Josiah Stevens. The business was conducted by Mills it Stephens 
about two years, aud upon the retirement of Stephens, in IS(;7 or thereabouts, Mills 
continued the business alone until ISdi), when he sold the hardware depart'iient to 
Theodore Perkins, retaining the tin shop. In Fobruary of 1870 he formed a co- 
partnership with F. D. Smith, under the firm name of Theodore Perkins &Co., and 
the tinwai'e busiuess was again included. W. S. Newkirk succeed xl Perkins in 1871, 
aud Newkirk & Smith conducted the business until 187.'), whun the present co-})art- 
nership of Smith & Kingsbury was formed. The business has shown a very large 
increase the past three years, and Smith & Kingsbury now occupy the entire build- 
ing, twenty-seven feet wide and ninety feet in depth, with one storehouse in the rear 
and another on the north side. Their trade is principally retail, but they carry a 
stock so large as to enable them to wholesale at competitive prices. The stock carried 
embraces hardware, tinware, stoves, etc., a specialty being made of mechanics' tools, 
of which they carry a large variety, and Ihe business includes gas and steam fitting, 
tin roofiag and plumbing. Smith & Kingsbury are live, enterprising business men, 
and it is gratifying to note the fact that their business this year is showing a con- 
siderable increase over that of preceding years. 



C. VAN ALSTINE. 

As one of the oldest shoe dealers in the village, Mr. Van Alstine assists materially 
in tracing some of the changes that have taken place on Main street. He began 
shoemaking in 18(!1, in a small frame building then standing on the plot of ground 
now occupied by the Schcrmerhorn residence on South Main street, aud which had 
previously been occupied by a liquor store. It was moved to the rear of the lot 
about 1863 or 186-4, and Mr. Van Alstine then carried on business in the Samson 
block a couple of year^<, when he sold out and engaged in the livery business. In 
18(i9 he formed a co-partnership with Henry Purdy, aud they op-ned a shoe store 
in the little wooden building which stood on the present site of the Schermerhorn 
block. Here they remained four years, in 187;} removing to the Cdlvert block and 
commencing a wholesale and retail trade in boots and shoe-5. After the death of 
Purdy, in 1871, the stock was closed out, but Mr. Van Alstiuo again engaged in the 
retail trade in the Calvert block, in 1875. The old frame building, which has been 
supi^lanted by the handsome Schermerhorn block, was again occupied by him, how- 
ever, from 1876 to 1878, when preparations were being made for the building of the 
new brick structure. He occupied the old post-ofiBce block, on the northwest comer 
of Main and Court streets, from that time until he removed to his present location 
in the Dexter House block, in 1880, where he now carries a very nice stock of boots 
and shoes, and does custom work and repairing. 



46 PAST AND PRESENT. 

D. F. WALLACE. 
When the Taylor Hall block was completed, in 18(ir», the Apgar Brothers, of 
Ithaca, came here and opened a book and stationery store in the north storeroom. 
They only remained three years, however, and in 18fi8 sold their stock to A. Mahan, 
who added a music department to the store, and in liSTO foi-med a co-partnership 
with D. F. Wallace. Under the firm names of A. Mahan & Co. and Mahan & 
Wallace, the business was conducted by these gentlemen four years, they adding the 
book bindery, which had been established by. Horace Dowd two year^ previously, in 
187.'{. In 1874 the partnership was dissolved and the business divided, Mahan taking 
the music and sewing machine business aud Wallace the book, stationery and binding 
business, which he has since conducted with much success. About four years ago 
Mr. Wallace began jobbing largely in wall paper, and in that branch has been highly 
successful, last year standing iifth among the jobbers of wall paper in the State out- 
side of the city of New York. The book and stationery business has about doubled 
since 1865, and the wall paper business increased about five-fold. An idea of the 
extent of this business may be gained from the statement that Mr. Wallace now 
occupies the large north storeroom, basement and adjoining basement in the Taylor 
Hall block, the entire back half of the second floor of this block and a good-sized 
storage building in the rear. His wholesale ti-ado extends throughout Central New 
York aud Northern Pennsylvania, and the completeness of his stock attracts retail 
purchasers from all the neighboring towns. Mr. Wallace is certainly one of the 
most enterprising of those whose business comes under the head of the "Commer- 
cial Interests of Cortland. " 



A. MAHAN. 



Success has been made in commercial as well as in manufacturing circles, an illus- 
tration of which is furnished by the career of A. Mihau, the well-known dealer in 
musical instruments and sewing machines, at Nos. 9 aud 11 East Court street. Mr. 
Mahan came to Cortland from Vu'gil, where he had been engaged in the produce 
business for a number of years, in 18GS, and purchased the book and stationery estab- 
lishment of the Apgar Brothers, in Taylor Hall block. He added pianos, organs and 
sewing machines to the stock and successfully continued the business until 1870, 
when he formed a copartnership with D. F. Wallace. Under the names of Mahan 
& Co., and Mahan .fe Wallace, these gentlemen remained in partnership until 1874, 
when the business was divided, Mr. Wallace continuing in the book and stationery 
trade aud Mr. Mahan removing the piano, organ and sewing machine business to the 
large now building he had erected for this purpose at Nos. and 11 East Court 
street. Here he gave his sole attention to the building up of a trade in these goods, 
and the success he has met may be judged from the statement that hp now handles 
sewing machines by the car load lots, and four wagons are constantly employed in 
delivering pianos, organs and sewing machines throughout this aud surrounding 
counties. Under his energetic management the business steadily increased, growing 
to such proportions as was not dreamed of when he commenced, and he has become 
the largest dealer in pianos, organs and sewing machines in Central New York, his 
trade extending not only throughout a radius of twenty-live miles, but into Syracuse, 
Ithaca, Binghamtonand even into other States. It is biit a few years since he sold 
a handsome grand piano to President White, of Ithaca, for Sage College, and lately he has 
received orders from Connecticut for two grands and a square piano. A repiitation that 
brings orders from such points must necessarily be a wide and extensive one, and 
could only be acquired by the strictest integrity in dealing with a large number of 



PAST AND PRESENT. 47 

people. But representing the leading piano and organ manufacturers in the United 
States, and always having in stock the largest assortment of their best makes, he 
has been enabled to draw his patronage from among those who desired quality in 
the instruments they purchased, while buying in large quantities he was enabled to 
give them a large benefit in price — and to his superior management, combined with 
these advantages offered, his success is doubtless largely due. Mr. Mahan's trade is 
principally retail, with a small jobbing trade near by, and amounts to an aggregate sum 
that is really surprising. He occupies a greater part of the building, 45x80 feet in di- 
mensions, at Nor. y and 11 East Court street for his warerooms.and has besides a large 
storehouse, where is kept in stock the surplus pianos, organs and sewing machines. 
He employs a number of sub-agt-nts in the surrounding towns, and displays his 
energy and executive ability by constantly working up new territory and extending 
his business to still greater proportions. And that he will retain the position he has 
gained of the largest and most prominent individual dealer in musical instniments 
and sewing machines in Central New York, no one who is acquainted with the gen- 
man can have any doubts. Mr. Mahan is also interested with F. A. Bickford, a 
practical gunmaker of largo experience, in the firm of F. A. Bickford & Co., dealers 
in guns and sporting goods generally, who occupy a portion of the Mahan block. 
He is also one of those enterprising and public spirited men who are giving of their 
time and means to promote the welfare of the community, and who will yet give to 
Coi-tlaud the position in the manufacturing and commercial world, to which it is en- 
titled by reason of the facilities and resources possessed, despite the laggards who 
wait until success is assured before giving their support to schemes for its advance- 
ment. Mr. Mahan is President of the village and resides on North Main street in 
that elegant home erected in 1881, which, with its pure Queen Anne architecture, 
its two acres of lawn, beautiful fountain and well kept grounds, forms one of the 
most pleasing dwelling places in the village and adds so much to the attractivenes 
of this portion of Cortland. 



J. C. CARMICHAEL & CO. A" 

Half a century ago, when Cortland was one of the smallest villages in the county, 
and was jealous even of Homer's seemingly brighter prospects, the furniture busi- 
ness of J. C. Charmichael & Co. was established in a frame building then standing 
on the site now occupied by the three story brick building at No. 11 Port Watson 
street. The foimder of the business was J. McFarlan, and it was in 1834 that he 
founded the house which for forty -nine continuous years has occupied the position 
of the leading furniture and undertaking establishment in Cortland. In 1851 J. C- 
Carmi«'hael entered the business, being admitted as a partner in 1855, and the firm 
of McFarlan & Carmichael continued until 18(5(), when the senior partner's interest 
was purchased by Mr. Carmichael, who has since conducted the business, and is to- 
day one of the oldest merchants in the village, having been engaged in this one 
business here for thirty -two years. When the magnificent new Standard block was 
completed last spring, the desirable storerooms now occupied were fitted up 
especially for the furniture business, and J. C. Carmichael & Co. have now one of 
the finest furniture establishments in Central New York, displaying a stock that one 
would only expect to see in the larger cities. The thi'ee floors devoted to the 
btisiuess are models of elegance and convenience, and when co:inpared with those in 
which the furniture business has been conducted in the past, form one of the best 
illustrations of Cortland's growth and progress. Mr. Carmicha el has been one of the 
foremost citizens of the village, having twice been called to tb <? Presidency, and has 
done not a Little towards advancing its interests and promoUo g its rapid growth. 



48 PAST AND PRESENT. 

G. W. BRADFORD. 

In 1847, when G. W. Bradford came to Cortland and entered the drag store of 
Daniel Bradford, as a clerk, the village contained but a small proportion of its present 
population, and Main street, from the Cortland House to the Eagle Hotel (now the 
Messenger House), was about the extent of the village. Besides Daniel Bradford's 
drug store there were dry goods or "general" stores kept by J. Sturdevant & Co., 
W. O. Barnard, Orrin Stimson, Asa Lyman and James Van Valen, the harness store 
of Henry Brewer, J. McFarlan's furniture store, the foundry and hardware store of 
A. &. S. D. Freer, and Homer Gillett and Lovett Cudworth and Isaac M. Seaman's 
grocery stores, while Andrew Dickson kept a dry goods store and the post- 
office in a building then standing on the northeast corner of Main and Port 
Watson streets. Mr. Bradford remained a clerk in that drug store nine years, and 
iu 185(3 opened a drug store in the storeroom now occupied by him, and for twenty, 
seven years has carried on the drug business in this location. Here he has con- 
tinued in the drug business without change, witnessing a thriving manufacturing 
town grow up abont him, his owu business increasing and extending to such pro- 
portions never dreamed of when starting. And this is the only instance noted in 
which a business house has continued in the same location and without a change in 
the name of its proprietor for- such a period in Cortland. The old Dixon block, thfn 
a three-story building, has been transformed into the four-story Keator bliick, but 
with the exception of having been enlarged and somewhat modernized the store- 
room now occupied by G. W. Bradford's drug store is the same one iu which he 
commenced and for twenty-seven continuous years has conducted the drug business. 



E. H. BREWER. 

One of the first harness makers in the village of Cortland was Henry Brewer 
fkher of the subject of this sketch, and founder of the lai'ge hai-ness manufacturing 
buVness now carried on at No. 9 Port Watson street. Mr. Brewer started business 

'his own account in 1834, beginning in a small way by renting a room in the 
second story of the small frame building then standing on the site occupied by the 
present factory, and began making harness. His tireless industry and close business, 
habits made him successful, and as his business grew larger a workman was em- 
ployed to assist him, and in time a room on the first floor was rented, and still another 
man employed. Steadily and surely the demand increased for his harness, which 
were made very strong and found to wear well, and it was not many years before 
four or five hands were employed and the whole building, 20x24 feet in dimensions, 
two stories, was occupied and finally purchased. In January, 1862, this building, 
with the Eagle Hotel and another building adjacent, was burned to the ground. The 
business was continued in a building on the opposite side of the street until 18(;4, 
when it was removed to the large three-story brick structure erected on the site of 
the burned building, and the working force again increased, the first floor and part 
of the second being occvipied. As the business was steadily increasing, he subse- 
quently admitted his son, Henry L. Brewer, to a jjartnership, under the title of 
H. Brewer & Son, but upon the failure of the junior member's health this partner- 
ship was dissolved and Mr. Brewer continued the business alone until 1874, when he 
sold to E. H. Brewer & Co. , and retired from active service. E. H. Brewer & Co. 
conducted the establishment until 1877, when J. A. Schermerhorn was admitted, and 
the firm name changed to Brewer & Schermerhorn, who continued in partnership 
until 1879, when by the death of Mr. Schermerhorn, E. H. Brewer became sole pro- 
prietor. The growth of this business has probably been mor? steady and sure than 



PAST AND PRESENT. 49 

any other noted, and its reputation extends into many distant States. The entire 
building, 2-4x50 feet in dimensions, three stories, is now occupied for the manufacture 
of harness, from fifteen to twenty men being constantly employed, and their product 
being sent to points in Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, 
Illinois, Michigan and Dakota. Fine work (track and road harness) has been a spe- 
cialty with this house for many years, and their success in a great measure is due to 
their peculiar method of manufacturing. All their line work is made on a system of 
combination dies and forms, which ensure perfect proportion and accurate work, and 
are fully protected by patent. A noteworthy fact that might be mentioned here is 
that it is not found necessary to employ traveling salesmen, as all the orders come 
direct from the houses to whom only circulars are sent, and indicating that the repu- 
tation acquired in forty-nine years is not without its profit. Mr. E. H. Brewer is 
one of the most enterprising of Cortland's young business men, and besides suc- 
cessfully carrying on this large harness manufactory, is the senior member of the 
Cortland Box Loop Company, which gives promise of becoming the largest concern 
of the kind in this country. 



SAGER & JENNINGS. 



The first store opened in the village for the sale of drugs exclusively was that of 
A. Sager, near the corner of Main and Court streets, on the present site of the 
Schermerhorn building, in 1857. The business was comparatively small, but Mr. 
Sager continued there until 1861, when desiring to enter the service of his country, 
he sold to Dr. T. C. Pomeroy, and went out as a volunteer with the Seventy-sixth 
Regiment. Being discharged on account of disabilities in May, 18G3, he returned 
to Cortland, and in June again embarked in the drug business in the old Barnard 
block, on the corner of Main and Mill streets. Many readers will remember this 
building, which would now appear very common looking, but was then one of tba' 
most prominent buildings in the village. It was three stories in height in ^n'^'j^. 
with the roof sloping back until it was only two stories high in the rear, and '^itv' 
look rather stunted in comparison with the building now occupying the site. Along- 
side of it, and where the Dexter House stands, was an old-fashioned two-story gable 
roof building, occupied by L. Dexter's billiard saloon and Henry Woodruff's tailor- 
ing establishment. A shed projected from the to^) of the first story and a sign 
extended across the pavement, giving it quite a different appearance from that which 
this corner now presents. In the fall Mr. Sager let down the floor about sixteen 
inches, put in a new front, and rearranging the interior of the storeroom made it 
quite an attractive store. He conducted the business alone until the spring of 1865, 
when he formed a co-partnership with Thomas Dalton, under the firm name of A. 
Sager <t Co., which continued one year, when Mr. Dalton withdrew to engage in 
business in Western Pennsylvania. He is now a member of the firm of Smith & 
Dalton, of Syracuse. In April, 18GG, this cornfli| was purchased by Mr. Stger and 
L. Dexter, and the property divided, the former taking the building occupied by his 
drug store and the latter the old two-story building. Mr. Sager then built the 
frame building in the rear for a storehouse, afterward occupied by Harrison Wells, 
and carried on the business alone until the spring of 1870, when he formed a co- 
partnership under the old name of Sager <fc Co. with W. A. Pierce, a book-keeper ih 
the National Bank of Cortland. This partnership was dissolved after a year and 
seven months' continuance, Mr. Pierce going to Syracuse and becoming a member 
of the firm of Smith & Pierce, in the same house which Mr. Sager's former partner 
—-Dalton— has since entered. In 1872 Mr. Sager and Mr. Dexter rebuilt tSie eotirs 



'50 PAST AND PEESENT. ^ 

corner, making it a uniform three-story building, with Mansard roof, and the latter'a 
part of the block was then opened as the Dexter House. The present firm of Sager 
& Jennings was formed in the spring of 1876, under the name of A. Sager & Co., 
the firm name being changed to Sager & Jennings in the spring of 1881. The business 
has steadily increased, and the store is now one of the largest in the village. Mr. 
Sager came to Cortland from Syracuse in 1856, having read medicine with Alfred 
Mercer with a view to practicing, but entering the drug business here and finding it 
congenial, continued in it with the success noted. He served honorably in the war 
of the rebellion, and came home from it a Brevet-Major. Mr. E. F. Jennings, the 
junior member of the firm, is a native of Palermo, Oswego county, and came to 
Cortland in 1871 as a clerk in his partner's store, having just left the University of 
Illinois, where he had been preparing himself for the drug business. After a service 
of three years with Mr. Sager, he went to Hamilton, Madison county, and 
formed a co-partnership with a former clerk of Mr. Sager's, under the title of Hoot, 
Jennings & Co. , but only remained there a year, returning to Cortland and forming 
the present co-partnership. 



S. M. BENJAMIN. 
The marble business now conducted by S. M. Benjamin at No. 89 North Main 
street, was established by 0. W. Dowd in 1849. S. M. Benjamin worked in 
Dowd's shop nine years, and it is said that during this time he never lost even half a 
day — a record to which but few journeymen can point in these days. In 1860 S. M. 
and J. W. Benjamin purchased the marble business of Dowd and for twenty-two 
years the Benjamin Brothers honorably and successfully conducted the business, the 
partnership only being severed by the death of J. W. Benjamin on the 13th of uTune, 
1882. In this, as in the other classes of business in the village, much progress has 
been shown. When Mr. Benjamin worked for Dowd in 1849-50 only plain two-inch 
slabSjto set in the ground, were sold, while now principally fine monumental work is 
^M. Since the death of his brother, Mr. S. M. Benjamin has continued the busi- 
g^ess alone, and the reputation acquired by the Benjamin Brothers for satisfactory 
w ork and honorable dealing, ensures the patronage of the best people. A building 
twenty-six feet wide and seventy feet in depth is occupied for the business, five 
skillful workmen being employed, and a fine stock of finished work is shown, 
special designs being made to order. As one of the older business men, Mr. 
Benjamin is worthy this recognition, which is with pleasure accorded him. 



JAY & SMITH. 



The handsome shoe store of Jay & Smith, in the new Standard block, which was 
opened to the public last March, has met with decided favor, and purchasers of fine 
goods have learned that it is to their interest to visit the new establishment. One 
advantage possessed by them is the fact that they are also wholesale dealers, and 
consequently can offer inducements to retail purchasers that are not within the reach 
of regular retailers. They occupy a basement and two floors in the Standard block, 
the elegantly fitted up store room (twenty-two feet wide and ninety feet in depth), 
No. 30 Main street, being devoted to the retail trade, and the basement and second 
floor being occupied by the wholesale department. They are gaining a large trade 
in Central New York and Pennsylvania, seUing to both the jobbing and retail trade. 
Mr. E. W. Smith, the junior member of the firm, is a commercial traveler of many 
•o' experience, and possesses a large acquaintance, not only with the trade, but 
) Eastern manufacturers, and derives therefrom considerable benefit in. buying 



PAST AND PliESENT. CI 

goods. "Mr. George E. Jay is well known here, and pays particular attention to the 
retail trade. They carry a very full and complete line of fine goods in all varieties 
in the retail department, and in the wholesale department the medium grade o' 
goods is made the specialty. Their flattering success (doubtless largely attributable 
to the inducements they ai-e enabled to offer, both in the wholesale and retail trade, ) 
is vei-y gratifying to their friends, and certainly gives them promise of a very bright 
future. 



S. D. FREER. 

Identified with the business interests of the village for a lifetime, a brief sketch 
of Stephen D. Freer will not be without its interest to a large number of readers. 
His father, John A. Freer, was one of the earhest settlers in Cortland, having located 
here in 1802. S, D. Freer was born in 1815, and as a boy attended school at the 
" four corners, " a mile south of the village. When seventeen years of age he entered 
the post-office, then kept by Canfield Marsh, as a clerk and apprentice at the hat 
finishing trade. He did not remain there long, however, and in 1834 entered Gen- 
eral Randall's store, on the southwest comer of Main and Tompkins streets, as a 
clerk. In 1837 he went into the employ of his brother, Anthony, in the foundry 
business, and in 1838 the firm of A. & S. D. Freer was formed. They conducted 
the foundry and a large hardware store until 1861, when the business was sold. In 
the meantime he had engaged in the coal trade, upon the opening of the S., B. & 
N. Y. Railroad, in 1854, and also conducted that business until 186."). He was a 
member of the firm of Sears, Frear & Cottrell, organized in 1864, who manufac- 
tured flax-seed oil in the old paper mill for a few years, and entered the coal busi- 
ness again, after the failure of this industry to prove a success, in 1873. His last 
venture proved a decided success, and in 1874 he purchased the large frame building / 
on the comer of Railroad street and the S., B. <& N. Y. Railroad, where he su >ces8-' 
fully continued in this business until August, 1883, when he removed to the in'W co^l 
buildings and offices just completed, opposite the Cortland Wagon Compauy's w.-^'^s. 
The buildings are the finest in this section, the coal pocket structure baing ouetin-^^ 
dred and eighty-eight feet in length and forty-eight feet in height, with a caijjitjr^^ 
for dumping fifteen cars at one time. It is supplied with all the improvements in 
screens, sieves, etc., for preparing the coal without labor while loading on wagons, 
and is a model of its kind. The offices are very finely appointed, and the whole 
forms an establishment unsurpassed in Central or Southern New York. Mr. Freer 
is one of the few business men who are natives of Cortland, and have been engaged 
in business here all their lives, but he is by no means a laggard in making the im- 
provements that the rapid growth of the village makes imperative to keep pa -e with 
its progress, and is honored alike for his enterprise, his integrity and his qualities as 
a citizen. 



THEODORE STEVENSON. 
Of the live, enterprising men who have done so much towards making Cortland 
the place it is to-day, none are deserving more commendation than TluoJore Steven- 
Bon. First in all schemes of public improvement, in all plans for the development 
of the resources of the village, and first to give of his time and his means to advance 
its interests and assist its growth, he is a type of that class of self-made men who, 
public spirited and enterprising, by force of their own strong will often succeed in 
carrying themselves and the place with which they have identified themselves to the 
highest pinacle of success. And all unprejudiced minds will agree with me in saying 
that Theodore Stevenson has proven himself to be a man of inestimable value to thia 



52 PAST AKD PRESENT. 

community. He came to Cortland in 1872 — a visitor. The attractions of the beau- 
tiful village decided him to locate here, and he engaged in business as an insurance 
and real estate agent, but more especially as a representative of the Phoen'ix Mutual 
Life Insurance Company, with which he has ever since been identified. That suc- 
cess which must attend well directed efforts — push and a btrict attention to the 
duties, the obligations of his calling — attended him, and he built up for him- 
self a prosperous business in this line. He early perceived the possibilities of 
the village, but was not in a position, financially, to take advantage of the 
opportunities offered until 1880, when he made his first investment in real 
estate, and erected a fine residence on Church street — a two-story, French roof 
dwelling, with bay windows, heated by steam and supplied with all the modern im- 
provements. This was the first house in the village so furnished, and was intended 
for his own occupancy. But he also erected a neat two-story dwelling, with bay 
windows to top of second story, on Groton avenue — a very desirable residence, 
which he was not long in selling. In 1881 he purchased a lot on Clinton avenue, on 
which stood a small house and barn. Here he erected three seven-roomed Chau- 
tauqua cottages, with projecting roofs and wide piazzas, also building a large double 
house on the lot and refitting the barn into a pleasant dwelling place. Early in 
1882 he i^urehased of H. P. Goodrich twelve acres of land east of the S., B. &N. Y. 
Railroad (balance of Hubbard and Pomeroy tracts), and laid out Garfield street, 
from Crandall to Hubbard, grading and laying a stone walk all the way around. 
Four cottages (three of them double) were built on this street, a house on same 
tract, on Crandall street, and a large four-gable double house, with wide halls and 
fine stairways, at No. 130 Elm street, and in the fall a single cottage and large 
double house of twenty-two rooms were built on a sub-division of same tract, on 
Pomeroy street. In December of 1882 and January of 1883 the balance of this 
tract, on the east side of Pomeroy and extension of Elm streets, was cut up into 
lots, and on the south side of Elm, near the U. , I &E. Railroad, he built a three-story 
^^ Jiik, 40x100 feet in dimensions, with large wing in the rear, for the Excelsior Top 
/ Gopany. This work was done in twenty working days during the coldest part of 
I lutNvinter, it being necessary to scrape the snow off the ground to lay the founda- 
tion. In the spring of 1883 another cottage was erected on the west side of Pome- 
roy street and a large double house built on the north side of Elm, Excelsior street 
also being extended north from Elm. Six acres of the choicest land on Monroe 
Heights were purchased in April, and when West Court street is extended over the 
hill, here will be erected some^of the handsomest residences in Cortland. In July 
the Kinney tract, east of the U., I. & E. Railroad, was purchased, and Franklin 
street laid out to Elm on the north. An acre of land being sold to the Sanford Fork 
and Tool Manufacturing Company (Nixon & Rickard), he contracted to erect par- 
allel with the Excelsior Top Company's building a three-story block, 32x50 feet in 
dimensions, with an addition 40x100 feet in the rear, all set on solid mason work 
foundation and constructed in the most substantial manner. Work was progressing 
very rapidly on this contract at the time of writing, and the balance of the tract had 
been cut up into lots ready for sale, the Kennedy tract purchased and also plotted on 
Elm street, and this street extended clear to the Tioughnioga river. Besides doing 
all this work, Mr. Stevenson has given largely of his time and means to promote the 
welfare of the community in other respects, and while it is admitted that his labor 
is not without its rewards, it is claimed that he is entitled to the fullest recognition 
of his services. All that he has done has been accomplished in the face of adverse 
circumstances, under which the majority of men would have succumbed, and while 
his work is not yet done, there cannot be the least doubt but that he will success- 



PAST AND PRESENT. 53 

fully complete all that, bo has set himself to do. He is a far-seoing, shrewd, ener- 
getic business man, di-splaying a boldness that is somewhat startling to the average 
person, but with siifficieut conservatism to prevent rashness, possessing not only the 
mind to plan but the executive ability to carry out his projects, and were there a 
few more such men in Cortland it would bo making still more rapid progress, and 
soon be admitted to the si.sterhood of cities. 



CONCLUSION- 



While it was found impossible to give place to every ouo of the manufacturing 
industries, it will readily be pe.rceived how much more is it so to review each repre- 
sentative of the commei-cial interests, — so niuuerons, ind ed, that were it attempted 
a small volume of itself would be re(piired. And much as I would like to pivsent 
sketches of the old established houses of S. E. Welch and Wan-en &. Tanner, in the 
dry goods trade ; 0. NV. (joUins' immense crockery establishment ; II. M. Kellogy's 
large hardware store, established by the Wickwirc Bi'others long before they tbought 
of weaving wii-e cloth either on hand or power looms; Garrison & Co., S(pures & 
Co., C. H. Gaylord and Kandall & Co's. grocery houses ; A. Sf. Sehcrmerhom's great 
carriage and wagon repository; J. G. Gray and G. F. Bildwiu, the jewelers ; W. B. 
Johnson's drug store, established by Abner L. Smith and Theodore Perkins, in 18<>.">, 
and at one time conducted by Isaac W. Brown and the late George H. Arnold ; Harring- 
ton it Go. and E. M. Keid & Co's. large clothing houses ; 11. Beard & Son's pros- 
perous furniture establishment, and the other business concerns, both wholesale and 
retail, embracing every bi-anch of trade — for which purpose notes were taken — the 
limits of the work forbid it, and jfhey must consecpieutly be omitted. Suffice it to 
say, however, that wonderful progress has been made in commerce as well as in yw 
manufacture, and that the extent of these interests in a village of 6,000 inhabitants/ 
and which only four years ago contained a population of but " i>,3!)8, and was chief 
noted for the location of the State Normal School," is the cause of much sure 
among its visitors. And having now completed the task which it was my plealrel 
to undertake — whether satisfactorily or not I, of course, cannot judgt)/— %vithj 
sincerest thanks to those who have so kindlj' assisted nie with both inform vtiou and 
encouragement, and the hope that the work will prove to be not without ils benefits, 
I will say Adieu 1 




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